California Partition Law Blog

Ejectment is an action brought by a party seeking to recover a possessory interest or claim of title in a piece of real property. Typically, an ejectment action arises when a titleholder to a piece of property has been wrongfully excluded or withheld from the property. Therefore, ejectment applies only to those cases where an…

A partition by appraisal is an alternative method of partition that occurs when the parties to a partition action agree to have the subject property partitioned by appraisal. With the Partition of Real Property Act taking effect in 2023, almost every partition action moving forward will involve a Partition by Appraisal. As such, the rules…

“Joint tenancy” is a phrase that most people associate with the co-ownership of a property. And indeed, this is correct. Joint tenancy is a form of co-ownership in California, second only to tenancies-in-common in terms of popularity. But just because the words “joint tenancy” are used in a deed or other property-related document does not…

In California, in many partition actions, the court may enter an interlocutory judgment of partition, whereby there is an entry of judgment for partition. As opposed to a final judgment, an interlocutory judgment is a temporary judgment that is issued during the litigation of a case rather than after trial. In general, interlocutory judgments are…

If the parties consent to arbitration, they decide to settle their dispute outside the confines and strict procedure of courtrooms. That said, arbitration awards are not automatically court judgments just because they resolve legal claims. On the contrary, arbitration awards are just contracts between parties and are not independently enforceable under the law. For that…

Even when a party finally secures a judgment of partition, the property itself must still be sold (or partitioned in another way). This raises a brand-new set of issues for litigants as they attempt to figure out the terms of sale, when the property should be sold, and, most importantly, the asking price. But sometimes,…

In most breach of contract actions, the court must find that a valid contract has been created. There are several requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to have an enforceable contract. In certain circumstances, evidence of the existence of a contract in writing is required for the contract to be valid. In general,…

In California, business enterprises can take many forms (LLCs, corporations, partnerships, etc.). But perhaps the most unique is the “joint venture,” a special entity that, more often than not, is imposed by courts as a matter of law. This is because a joint venture is simply an “undertaking by two or more persons jointly to…

The appointment of a partition referee is one of the most important aspects of a Partition Action. A partition referee is a neutral third party that is appointed by and accountable to the court. The sole function of a partition referee is to assist the court in matters related to partition actions. (CCP § 873.510.)…

The deed to a property is the most important document a property owner has. It describes the title and its associated rights while operating as the conveyance of property itself. For that reason, the law presumes the validity of deeds without defects on their face. But that does not mean that every deed is legally…