My same-sex partner and I have lived in the house for 5 years.  When
the house was purchased, it was only in my partner?s name, not mine. 
The house is located in Huntington Beach, California.  We are not
registered domestic partners but have been together for 10 years.

We would like to add my name to the house deed. What is the smartest and
easiest way to do this and are there any payments (ie. property, gift
tax consequences) either of us have to make?

Thank you

You can go to your local recorders office and file a Quit Claim Deed
to add your partner onto the deed. Its a pretty simple form that most
people can do on their own. There most likely be a recording fee
charged by your county to do this... varies by county. If you
currently have a mortgage out on the property, this will not add them
onto the loan. If you want to add them onto the mortgage (to add your
partner to the financial liability of the mortgage so they recieve
credit reporting, etc. you need to contact your mortgage company.)

I am not a google researcher, but I have a lot of exp. in the
mortgage/loan/real estate industry...

Good Luck :)

asweetangel,

Thank you so much for your comment.  I have "googled" Quit Claim Deed
and recieved a definition on it that sounded like it would not benefit
us.

It stated that a quit claim deed is used where a person who owns a
property transfers all his interests to someone else.  This is not
what we want to do.  My partner and I would like to be on the deed
together.  Currently, my partner is only on it and we want to add my
name to the deed.  There is still a mortgage.

Again, thank you for your time with the comment. From it, I learned
something new.  This (real estate/mortgage) is something that I have
no experience in and I'm hoping that I am explaining things correctly.

Just another tidbit, you may want to check with the county directly.
Each county is different and they may have a special form that you can
use for this purpose. I know it gets recorded at the recorders
office... I only mentioned Quit Claim Deed because I have seen them
used in various ways (most commonly) as you stated to remove someone.
You may want to start our at your Mortgage company to inquire with
them what you can do... they may be able to assist you more easily.

this is what i found on the Orange County Website, try this link 

http://www.ocgov.com/assessor/forms.asp#transfer

you want this: Change Of Ownership Statement (COS)

Dear asweetangel,

I can't thank you enough for your help and comments. I will check out
what my Mortgage company has to say and the website you mentioned.

Thanks again