California Civil Code section 685 defines an interest in common, or tenancy in common: property owned by several persons, not in joint ownership or partnership. Every tenant in common can use the whole property and can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 682 lists the four ways several people can own property together: joint tenancy, partnership, tenancy in common, and community property. Joint tenants and tenants in common can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 686 makes co-owners tenants in common by default, unless the property was acquired by a partnership, the deed or will expressly declares a joint tenancy, or it was acquired as community property.
California Civil Code section 683 defines a joint tenancy: two or more owners in equal shares, under one deed or will that expressly declares a joint tenancy, with a right of survivorship. Without that declaration, co-owners are tenants in common.
In Cosler v. Norwood, the California Court of Appeal upheld a 3/4–1/4 split between joint tenants based on what each actually paid, holding that a co-owner who sues for partition and an accounting puts both owners’ interests in issue, so the joint tenancy deed is only one piece of evidence.
In Kershman v. Kershman, the California Court of Appeal held that co-owners on a joint tenancy deed can own unequal shares if they agreed their shares would follow what each paid, and that a co-owner’s debts come out of his share of the sale proceeds, not his ownership percentage, so he keeps his share of the appreciation.
In Demetris v. Demetris, the California Court of Appeal let a father undo a mistaken joint tenancy deed and convert it to a tenancy in common, repaid the extra $1,000 he put toward his son’s share, and held that a loan on the whole house is paid from all the sale proceeds before the co-owners divide it.
In Southern Adjustment Bureau v. Nelson, the California Court of Appeal held that a co-owner who paid taxes, insurance, and loan payments is repaid the full amount from a partition sale before the rest is split, and showed how repaying only half underpays that co-owner.
The vesting worksheet signed during escrow is usually why a deed says joint tenants or tenants in common. Co-owners who say they never agreed usually signed it, and the choice affects a California partition action.
Usually, yes. In a California partition action, a co-owner who paid more than their share of the mortgage is generally entitled to be repaid the excess out of the sale proceeds before the remaining money is divided.
A co-owner who paid more than their share of expenses or improvements can be reimbursed in a partition action. California courts use two methods to calculate those offsets.
No. Having both names on the deed does not mean your ex automatically gets half. In a California partition action, the co-owner who paid more is generally repaid first, with one major exception.
When one co-owner’s family gives money toward the down payment, it can become a major dispute in a partition action. Here is how courts treat down payment gifts.
One co-owner often ends up paying all the property taxes, especially when another co-owner lives there. A partition action can credit the paying co-owner and end the dispute.
Many deeds name three or more co-owners without saying how much each owns. That question becomes critical in a partition action. Here are the factors courts consider.
In a joint tenancy, co-owners hold equal shares with a right of survivorship. Here is how joint tenancy is created in California and what happens when it ends.
Milian v. De Leon (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 1185 held that once a partition court finds a true joint tenancy, the co-owners generally share equally without reimbursement for unequal contributions.
One of the most common co-ownership disputes is what happens when one co-owner paid more than their share of the down payment. Here is how a partition action handles it.
California law allows a co-owner to be compensated for improvements in a partition action, but whether an offset is awarded depends on the circumstances.
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.610 provides that the interests of all parties, plaintiff and defendant alike, may be tried and decided in the partition action.
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.140 lets the court in every partition action order an accounting, contribution, and other compensatory adjustments between co-owners according to equity.
When co-owners can’t agree, a California court can force a sale. Before the proceeds are split, the court credits co-owners for mortgage payments, taxes, improvements, and rental value.
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Practical guides from attorneys who focus exclusively on California partition actions.
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