The Underwood Law Firm, P.C. is California’s Premier Partition Law Firm for partition trials involving million-dollar properties and complex partition actions including multiple properties, apartment buildings, industrial, and commercial real estate. At any given time, the firm is handling hundreds of partition actions involving single-family homes, office buildings, commercial strip malls, apartments, warehouses, vacant land, and farm land. Our attorneys have significant experience handling these cases in courts throughout the State, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, San Jose, Stockton, and the East Bay. As a result, clients throughout California seek out the Firm for its one-of-a-kind experience.
You deserve an experienced counselor and aggressive attorney who is familiar with the right solutions to challenging real estate problems. Our attorneys are dedicated to providing these solutions, and Elijah Underwood is the Instructor on Partitions for the California Association of Realtors, and sits on the Executive Committee of the California Lawyers’ Association’s Real Property Section. The Underwood Law Firm P.C. exists to serve our clients and provide the highest possible value in Partition Law.
Our Focus—Partition Actions
The Underwood Law Firm, P.C. limits its practice only to those things that it does well. Frequently, the firm is handling hundreds of partition actions throughout California. Where other law firms may have handled only one or two of these types of actions, the Firm is intimately familiarity with the intricacies that these types of cases present.
A partition action is a court supervised process for selling jointly-owned real estate in California. These actions are very common with real estate owned by (1) ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends, (2) brothers/ sisters, (3) parents/ children, and (4) co-investors/ developers. The firm has multiple clients in each of these categories, is familiar with the challenges that each type of partition case raises, and the procedures at each step of the way. As each of these types of cases present unique and challenging issues, it is important to have an attorney who understands the complications and opportunities that each type of case presents, and knows how to capitalize on the opportunities.
As a result, we can provide the highest possible value to our clients in litigating these cases as we have the knowledge of the issues and the complications at our finger-tips from our routine involvement in these types of matters. For example, our firm is familiar with issues involving:
- Can One Owner Force a Sale of a House? Generally, any co-owner of real estate may commence a partition action.
- How Do You Sever a Joint Tenancy? The most common types of co-ownership situations are joint tenancy, tenancy-in-common, and marital tenancy. When a joint tenancy is not working, there is a simple solution to sever the relationship.
- What are the Steps in the Partition Process? Under the Partition Law, there are generally four steps in the partition process.
- What Can You Do When a Co-Owner Refuses to Pay Taxes? Under California law, all owners of the property are jointly liable for the taxes to real estate. When a co-owner refuses to take responsibility for their obligations, the law provides for a relatively straightforward remedy.
- What is the Partition of Real Property Act? Starting on January 1, 2023, there are new provisions that apply to partitioning real estate in California.
- What is the Difference Between Legal Title and Equitable Title? In California, there are differences between “legal” title and “equitable” title.
- Can a Co-Owner Take Out a Mortgage Without Your Consent? One Co-Owner can undertake a mortgage without another owner’s permission. When this co-ownership situation sours, there is one remedy that is superior to the others.
- Can One Owner Sign a Lease for an Entire Property? As each owner of the property has a right to complete possession, any owner can lease the property.
- What Happens When a Co-Owner Refuses to Pay Their Share of the Mortgage? When each co-owner is jointly responsible for the mortgage, the remedies available are fairly limited, but one option may be the best among them.
- What are the Steps to Partition Trust Property? The partitioning of trust property is slightly different than a normal partition action.
- What is an Interlocutory Judgment? Generally, every partition action includes at least one, if not several, interlocutory judgments.
- Do You have a Right to Recover Attorneys’ Fees in Partition Actions? In California, the Partition Law permits the recovery of attorneys’ fees in the Court’s equitable discretion.
- Can You Partition Partnership Property? After the dissolution, accounting, and wind-up of partnership matters, partnership property may be subject to partition.
When they refuse to sell, and you need to know what to do next, the attorneys at Underwood Law Firm, P.C. can help with your California partition action.
Firm Values—Dedicated
Our clients trust the firm with their problems because its practices are limited only to those things that we do well. When the firm takes on a client, it does so with the confidence that the pitfalls and traps are well known, and the client can be successfully guided to a positive outcome. For the California partition law firm of Underwood Law Firm, P.C., everything is done to make sure that each client’s trust is well placed.
As a result, the firm is very selective and limited in the clients and matters accepted. While some firms take on anything that comes in the door, the Underwood Law Firm, P.C. limits its practice to that which it can provide the highest possible value. You do not want to pay someone to learn how to practice law, or to re-invent the wheel. You deserve legal representation by someone who has been around the block, bought the t-shirt, and memorized the trail. This approach is reflected in our close attention to detail, and our zealous advocacy for our clients at every step of the way.
The partition law firm of Underwood Law Firm, P.C. assists clients when it matters most. Whether you need help with a lawsuit with everything on the line, or negotiating the best resolution to a pressing problem, our clients trust the firm to be there every step of the way.
Firm Values—Assertive
At the end of the day, results matter. You hire a lawyer to get things done so you can move on with your life, not so you can get a legal education or needlessly spin your wheels. The legal work has to be effective in meeting the client’s goals.
The firm builds trust with its clients through a diligent and constant focus on communication, sharing information, an honest assessment of the situation, and a careful consideration of the risks and rewards of the client’s situation. The firm ensures that you receive updates about your matter on a regular basis, and is available to address your concerns when issues arise. When our clients go to sleep at night, they can rest easy knowing that their law firm is worrying about their problems.
Ultimately, the firm seeks to provide the maximum possible value to our clients through our representation. Our goal is for our clients to feel that they could not have made a better choice in their representation, and that they received more value than the amount of money that they spent on the process.
While some firms needlessly drag out legal disputes through meandering approaches, the firm approaches each matter with the end in mind, and calculates how to get there as efficiently as possible. Time is money. The California partition law firm of Underwood Law Firm, P.C. does everything to make sure that your money is well spent towards accomplishing achievable goals.
Firm Values—Trusted
First, the firm strives to build long-term relationships with our clients. In order to build that relationship, the firm takes every step to provide the same value and advice given to our long-term, repeat clients. By taking the long view, each client gets the type of advice we would give to an uncle, cousin, or sister-in-law. Each client is viewed as someone the firm expects to see again and again. By putting the client first, the firm knows that your success will be our success.
This client-first approach means, most of all, listening to the clients about their needs, goals, and challenges. The best hammer in the world is useless when you need a wrench. The solution, and the tools used to achieve it, must be an outgrowth of a fundamental understanding of the definition of the problem.
When the firm accepts a client, it does so with the end in mind. At the end of the representation, the firm wants the client to feel grateful that he or she could not have found a better lawyer to help with the problem, and that their lawyer was with them every step of the way.
In representing our clients, the first thing is to understand them and their specific needs and challenges. For the partition law firm of Underwood Law Firm, P.C., our clients are more than just customers.
Our Approach
We listen. When talking is not working, we’re here to give you a plan of action, and see it to the end despite all the challenges. The firm is results-driven, and starts each case with a plan to achieve the client’s goal. Every tool is used to achieve the goal, and the firm intensely focuses on the details of every case because the facts and the truth matter. For the California partition law firm of Underwood Law Firm, P.C., our clients are of utmost importance to us.
We honor our commitments to our clients, and ensure that their goals are our priority. We hone our strategy by aligning our actions with our client’s needs and litigation directives. We provide a plan to achieve those goals, because “failing to plan is planning to fail.” The firm explains the plan to the client, ensures that the client agrees with the plan, and then relentlessly executes that plan to completion. Our firm takes care of its clients and ensures that everything is as seamless as possible.
The firm is not afraid of complex matters, and has successfully litigated multi-million dollar claims on numerous occasions in courts across California.
The Underwood Law Firm, P.C. assists clients in all walks of life with complex legal and factual issues. The firm’s clients are real estate developers, distinguished college professors, successful businesses, and everyday people who need relief from their legal problems.
When you’re in one of these situations, contact our firm. Call or complete the contact form to take the next steps in the process.
Our Promise
You are our focus. At the Underwood Law Firm, our promise is to litigate your case according to your goals. Generally, this means that we take every action to resolve it as quickly, aggressively, and efficiently as possible. The Firm prides itself on resolving the types of cases in our niche practice more quickly than almost any other lawyers in California. We want to get your results without delay or needless expense. Instead, all of our actions are calculated to achieve your objectives with the greatest amount of efficiency.
