California Partition Law Blog
Recently, a jury in the Los Angeles Superior Court awarded what may become one of the largest judgments in a real estate case that has ever been issued. Significantly, in addition to a damage award in the billions, the Court also found that the family members were also co-owners in 17,000 apartments across California. As a result, this consequential decision should be better understood for its potential implications for all co-ownership situations.
Background
This saga started in the late 1970s. The Jogani family, natives of Gujarat, India, built a fortune in the global diamond trade with offices in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America.
Real estate law has many nuances and subtleties. One of the lesser known aspects to real estate law is something known as a “restraint on alienation.” At its most basic, a restraint on alienation limits the sale or transfer of interests in real property.
The estimated value of a piece of property can be important for resolving several types of legal disputes. It is crucial when a property owner needs to establish damages when the government interferes with the owner’s property and diminishes its value. Spouses may wish to testify regarding the value of their marital property when it is divided during divorce proceedings. A property owner may also want to testify as to their property’s value to contest a bank’s foreclosure on the property.
When co-owners of real estate cannot agree on how to divide or use their property, filing a 
A right of first refusal – sometimes called a “preemptive right” – is 
A trust is a legal device often used in estate planning. A trust may be established in the trustor’s lifetime, or it may be established in the trustor’s will where it takes effect once the trustor dies and the will is admitted in probate. Generally, assets in a trust are distributed according to the trustor’s intent, which can be specified in the trust instrument or document.
One of the more interesting ways to buy real estate is through tax auctions. When a party buys a property through a tax auction or foreclosure, they receive a special type of deed known as a “Sheriff’s Deed.” A sheriff’s deed is a legal instrument that is transferred when a property is sold as a result of a foreclosure. The purpose of this article is to provide information on Sheriff’s Deeds so that persons buying real estate at a tax auction can be better informed on the nature of exactly what they are purchasing.
Owning property can be complicated. The purpose of this blog post is to talk about different ways to hold title, and provides information on the meaning of some common terms so the average person can better understand their rights and responsibilities with respect to their property. Different types of property ownership come with different rights. By better understanding these terms, we hope to empower people to able to make the best possible decisions when faced with difficult situations.