Requirements for Creating a Binding Transmutation Agreement in CaliforniaBe in writing;Include an express declaration of the intention to transfer the status of property ownership; and.Signed by the spouse whose interest in the property is being reduced or removed.
Transmutation is a term used in family law to describe property that has been transformed from a party's separate property into marital property. In the context of equitable distribution, the term separate property refers to property that is owned by one spouse individually.
Basically, a transmutation agreement must be a signed, written agreement that clearly states the intention of both spouses to transfer the status of property ownership. A valid transmutation agreement should clearly express that the spouses are aware of the effect of the change.
Transmutation refers to a legal doctrine which allows for separate property to be changed into community property, or vice versa. Community property generally refers to any property or assets that a couple obtains during their marriage, and owns together.
In California a transmutation is a change in the legal characterization of assets or debts from community property to one spouse's separate property estate, or from one spouse's separate property estate to the community estate, or from one spouse's separate property estate to the other spouse's separate property