In California, all property bought during the marriage with income that was earned during the marriage is deemed "community property." The law implies that both spouses own this property equally, regardless of which name is on the title deed.
In order to transfer ownership of the marital home pursuant to a divorce, one spouse is going to need to sign a quitclaim deed, interspousal transfer deed, or a grant deed, in order to convey the title to the property.
When joint tenants have right of survivorship, it means that the property shares of one co-tenant are transferred directly to the surviving co-tenant (or co-tenants) upon their death. While ownership of the property is shared equally in life, the living owners gain total ownership of any deceased co-owners' shares.
One of the main differences between the two types of shared ownership is what happens to the property when one of the owners dies. When a property is owned by joint tenants with survivorship, the interest of a deceased owner automatically gets transferred to the remaining surviving owners.
The names on the mortgage show who's responsible for paying back the loan, while the title shows who owns the property. You can put your spouse on the title without putting them on the mortgage; this would mean that they share ownership of the home but aren't legally responsible for making mortgage payments.
It's often easier to qualify for a joint mortgage, because both spouses can contribute income and assets to the application. However, if one spouse can qualify for a mortgage based on his own income and credit, the mortgage does not need to be in both spouses' names unless you live in a community property state.
Misconceptions and Realities. It is a misconception that someone can be removed from the deed. Nor can a co-owner simply take away another party's interest in a property by executing a new deed without that other party. In short, no one can be passively removed from a title.
California married couples generally have three options to take title to their community (vs separate) property real estate: community property, joint tenancy or Community Property with Right of Survivorship. The latter coming into play in California July of 2001.
In cases where a couple shares a home but only one spouse's name is on it, the home will not automatically pass to the surviving pass, if his or her name is not on the title.