A property’s legal description is an essential element of any property transfer, and it serves as the basis for most property-based lawsuits. Quiet title summons, partition complaints, and lis pendens notices must all contain legal descriptions, just to name a few. Funnily enough, however, despite the legal description importance, there…
An estate is categorized by the duration of time one holds an interest in the estate. For example, an estate acquired through inheritance is categorized differently from an estate for years. There are three different ways an estate can be categorized, which is codified in California Civil Code section 765.…
An action to quiet title allows a litigant to clear title or have the court establish title to a piece of real property where the title to that property is in the issue. Moreover, a quiet title action is not solely for the purpose of establishing a legal interest in…
Yes, although the tenant is not allowed to exclude the non-consenting owners. The reason for this is grounded in ancient legal doctrine regarding the “right to possession” that all co-owners of property share together. Each owner may exercise this right, and each may grant it to a third party, should…
A partition action occurs when there are two or more title holders to a piece of property, and these title holders are unable to reach an agreement on splitting the subject property. Typically, a litigant brings a partition action to have the court force the sale of or split the…
While it may not be obvious, a sizeable portion of the work that real estate agents and realtors do is court-ordered. Real estate law is a massive field, and often, the disposition of litigation results in the court forcing the sale of a property, be it a business, home, condominium,…
Real estate contracts are an expansive field of both law and life. Sales, leases, options, and certainly wills can all fall under this broad category. Normally, once a contract is signed, parties can go to court to enforce them by filing a lawsuit. But if one of the parties has…
In California, a real estate investment trust is “any unincorporated association or trust formed to engage in business and managed by, or under the direction of, one or more trustees for the benefit of the holders or owners of transferable shares of beneficial interest in the trust estate and (1)…
When a loved one passes away, probate proceedings are hopefully not the first thing on their relatives’ minds. Probate is, however, an inevitability, even when a trust is present and effective. But inheritance is not always the blessing that the public conscious imagines it to be. The simple truth is…
Receivers and partitions referees are cut from the same cloth. In actions involving property, they step in at the request of the parties or order of the court to properly dispose of or manage the property at issue. That said, there are enough differences between the two to warrant litigants…