Why would a co-owner file a partition suit?

A co-owner of real estate in the State of California may seek to force a sale through the use of a partition referee. This is accomplished by filing a lawsuit for partition and seeking to have a court-appointed referee appointed by the court. It is very common for family members who inherit property from their deceased relatives to end up in disputes. One relative may want to hold onto the property and another relative may want to sell the property.

In other instances, partners who own real property may no longer get along. One partner may want to assert too much management control, the partners may become too old to effectively manage the property, the financial circumstances of the partners may change resulting in the need for one partner to sell or other circumstances may arise where continued joint ownership of real estate between co-owners is prohibitive and unworkable. These various circumstances may give rise to the need to seek the appointment of a partition referee in California.