Deeds

I am the owner of my home and want to add my partner's name to the title for property tax purposes. We are not married. He is turning 65 years old and I want to freeze my taxes. I have a will that leaves my home to him upon my death. Is this the legal deed I need to file to the county showing he is an equal owner?

My husband is planning to buy a house in California. For that he asked me to sign the Quitclaim deed and the homestead waiver. We are living separate and not divorced. We have two kids also. Since I didn't know these documents I wasn't ready to sign. Why is he asking me to sign these docs ? Is it required by law ?

Regarding indemnity deed of trust and security agreement: second generation is loaning money to make improvements on land. The land is owned by estate/trust of deceased parents, principal beneficiary being third generation. The family business is the borrower with estate/trust as grantor, securing loan with real property. As the lender, I hired a lawyer to write the loan agreement, lender agreement, indemnity deed of trust, and security agreement. The law firm has listed its self as trustee for the estate/trust on the indemnity deed of trust. Please explain! Is this common? What is their role, rights, extent of involvement after filing mortgage with the state?

My second husband paid off this residence. I was told to use a quitclaim deed to make him 'half' owner. Did I mistakenly give him 'sole' ownership of this residence?

If I am buying property using a private money investor to purchase it, is a recorded promissory note using the property as security a common and proper way to structure the deal or should I use another method such as a deed of some sort? I'm looking for the easiest and least confusing way to get my private investors to feel secure without going overboard.