The judge gave you the house —
now remove your ex from the deed

You record a new deed — usually an interspousal transfer or a quitclaim deed — that transfers the home into one spouse’s name, as the divorce judgment directs. We prepare the document your judgment calls for, claim the spousal exclusion, arrange notarization, and record it with the county so the title shows the correct owner — a flat $325.

No. The judgment decides who owns the home, but the county recorder does not change title on its own. Until a new document is prepared, signed, and recorded, the public record still shows both former spouses as owners. That recorded document is the step that actually updates the title.

California uses both for transfers between spouses, and which one applies depends on what your judgment or settlement calls for. A quitclaim deed releases whatever interest a spouse has; an interspousal transfer deed moves property between spouses and is commonly used to keep the dissolution exclusion clear. You or your attorney identify what the judgment requires; we prepare the document you direct.

It shouldn’t. Transfers between spouses, including transfers made as part of a divorce dissolution, are excluded from reassessment when the right exclusion is claimed on the transfer and the matching form is filed. We prepare both so a transfer that qualifies isn’t reassessed by mistake.

It is a flat $325 for a standard transfer, and $400 for a home held by an LLC or corporation. That includes the recorded document, the spousal exclusion claim, the matching county form, and one revision. The county’s own recording fee is set by the county and is collected and remitted on your behalf.

No. The deed and the mortgage are separate. Recording the transfer changes who is on title, but the loan stays as it is until the lender removes a spouse through a refinance or a loan assumption. We prepare and record it; the mortgage is handled by your lender.

Many California divorce judgments give the court clerk authority to sign a deed in place of a spouse who won’t or can’t sign, so the transfer can still be recorded. Bring your judgment and we’ll prepare the document the path you choose requires. Where a court step is needed, that part is handled through the court or your attorney.

We prepare most divorce filings within 1–3 business days. After the signing spouse signs before a notary, we record it with the county and email your stamped copy — typically 1–2 business days from signing, with same-day e-recording in the counties that accept it.

Yes. A transfer can be recorded long after the divorce is final. We review your judgment, prepare the transfer it calls for, and record it now so the title finally reflects sole ownership. This is one of the most common situations clients come to us with.

This is the call we get most often, and it is usually fixed in a day or two. Escrow and lenders will not close while an ex-spouse remains a record owner, because that person still has to sign. Send us the recorded deed, the divorce judgment, and the property address; we prepare the transfer the judgment calls for and e-record it with the county, most of the time the same business day. Escrow then sees clean title and the file moves.

Yes, and it is common after a divorce — one of you has usually moved. The process is fully remote at the same flat $325.

Another state: we prepare the deed and email it with signing instructions. The signing spouse takes it to any notary public licensed where they live, scans the notarized deed back to us, and we e-record it with the California county.

Outside the country: same process, with instructions written for signing abroad. The acknowledgment is normally taken at a U.S. embassy or consulate, and California also accepts a notary of that country, though some counties want the signature authenticated first. We confirm which route your county accepts before you book an appointment.

You and your ex never have to be in the same room, the same state, or the same country, and you can sign on different days.

You can, and the specific risk in a divorce is the tax exemption. A transfer between former spouses in dissolution is exempt from documentary transfer tax and from property tax reassessment, but only if the deed says so on its face, cites the right basis, and the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report is filled out to match. Free templates leave those fields blank. The deed records, you assume it is done, and a reassessment notice or a transfer tax bill arrives months later. Free templates also tend not to reference the judgment, which is what ties the transfer to the divorce in the first place.

Then this is no longer a divorce transfer — it is a title clearing, and the document is different. If the two of you held title as joint tenants, an affidavit of death of joint tenant removes them from title. If title was held another way, or the judgment awarded you the property but was never recorded, the route depends on what the deed and the judgment each say. Send us both and we will tell you which document applies before you pay anything.

Yes. Rejections trace to a short list: the legal description was copied from the tax bill instead of the recorded deed, the notary acknowledgment was incomplete or on the wrong form, the documentary transfer tax declaration or exemption statement was missing, the PCOR was not attached, or the page margins failed the recorder’s format rules. Send us the rejection notice with the deed and we prepare a compliant version and e-record it.

The current recorded deed, or the address and APN so we can pull it; the divorce judgment or marital settlement agreement page that awards the property; the exact legal names of both spouses; and how you want to hold title afterwards. If the judgment is not final yet, tell us — the transfer can still be prepared, but the exemption language differs. Intake is about ten minutes online and nothing is charged until we confirm the flat fee.

Yes to the notary — California will not record a deed unless the signing spouse’s signature is acknowledged before a notary public. County recording fees are paid to the county at cost and are separate from our $325. They vary by county and document, and California adds a $75 per title state fee to many recordings unless the transaction is exempt. We give you the exact figure for your county before you pay anything.