What is a California Partition Action?

In the State of California when more than one person is a co-owner of the property and one of those individuals wants to sell and the other does not want, the law in the State of California allows the sale of property through a legal action known as partition.

In order to proceed with a partition action, a lawsuit must be filed. California Civil Code Section 872.210 sets forth the ability of anyone seeking to sell a property under the foregoing circumstances subject to eligibility requirements. Those eligibility requirements include inheritance, divorce, and partnership investment.

Before the partition sale is completed through the use of a partition referee, the law requires that each co-owner has an established ownership interest. Until such ownership interest is clarified either through a court action or the agreement of the parties, a partition sale may not occur.

California Code Section 872.720 governs the issues involving interlocutory judgments. Once a judgment is obtained, there will then be a finding that a partition will be entered in the case. If the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to partition, it shall make an interlocutory judgment that determines the interests of the parties and the property and orders the partition of property. In some cases, the manner of the partition is determined later on. The partition can occur either through public or private sale.

Unless prohibited pursuant to an agreement of the parties, the partition of real property in the State of California is a right of any co-owner pursuant to state law.