What your parents put in writing controls. If the trust or deed leaves the house to all of you, a brother’s or sister’s claim that Mom promised them the house for life won’t stop a partition sale.
In Forrest v. Elam, the California Court of Appeal held that a son whose life estate ended when he left the property gave it up by forcing a partition sale, so he received his equal share as an heir but nothing for the life estate.
In Capuccio v. Caire, the California Supreme Court held that a partition plaintiff’s attorney’s fees for the common benefit are shared by all owners, even when the other owners fight the case, and even before the fees are paid.
Usually not. An appeal of a California partition judgment ordering a sale generally does not stop the sale unless the appealing co-owner posts an undertaking set by the trial court.
A life estate must be in writing to be enforceable in California. A verbal promise that someone can live in a property for life does not create a legal life estate.
California lets the co-owner who files a partition ask the court to award attorney’s fees and costs against the other co-owners, usually paid from the sale proceeds.
Code of Civil Procedure section 873.830 allows a setoff instead of payment for a tenant for life or years when only part of the property is sold.
Code of Civil Procedure section 873.840 explains how the court divides sale proceeds among successive estates, such as life estates and remainders.
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