I live in California and am married to a man who has a child support
obligation.  Let's say we want to buy a house together;  He has no
money to put into it, but I put $200,000.000 I got from the sale of
the condo I bought prior to our marriage.  If he loses his job, could
the $200,000.00 in equity I've put into our new house be in jeopardy
in connection with his child support obligations?  If so, how do I
protect myself?

Dear Miz Spider,

Even in a community property state like California, you may have 
separate property. When you buy the house, take title in your
name only = Miz Spider, a married woman, as her separate property. 
Your husband will have to sign a release that he agrees. But, yes, 
it can be done. 

Leave the title that way until his children are grown.

Be sure to make all the mortgage payments from your own bank 
account. If you need his money to do it, have him pay you the
money, then write the checks. 


If you plan sell the house and the gain is more than $250,000, you will
need to do some planning to be able to take advantage of his $250,000
tax-free exclusion. 

Yes, I know it can be done. I had a client whose ex-wife married a
millionaire and didn't work or have income of her own. She was able
to convince the court to increase his child support payments, when his
income went up because, her argument, her husband's income was not hers.

One more thing - if he gets behind in child support, and his ex gets a
court order letting the government attach his tax refunds, you can either
file a separate tax return, or file Form 8379 for Injured Spouse relief
so IRS doesn't grab your share of the tax refund. 
http://www.divorceinfo.com/injuredspouserelief.htm

I would advise that you work out the details with your attorney AND 
your tax professional. For some reason, divorce attorneys don't generally
seem to understand the tax implications of their actions. (Sorry too 
much experience with guys who don't get it.)

Best wishes,

Your TaxMama-ga

See if my research on this earlier question will help you.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=325692

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Hello,  Thank you...I saw this question prior to posting mine and that
was actually what prompted me to ask my question.
Regards,
-jc

From what I've experienced, once you are married, your money/property
you use together WILL be considered for his child support obligations.
For example, if he doesn't pay and falls behind enough to be charged
for non-support, they can put a lien against your house, car,etc. that
has his name on it.
If you bought the house BEFORE getting married and only had it in your
name, nothing could happen.