In Caiozzo v. 2672 to 2674 North Beachwood Drive, LLC, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a trust’s right to partition a co-owned Los Angeles duplex and rejected the LLC’s reliance on a “fairness” defense.
Clear and convincing evidence means a fact is highly probable, not just more likely true than not. California requires it before a court will rule that a deed is wrong about who owns the property.
An interlocutory judgment of partition closes the first phase of a California partition case. You obtain it by proving your right to partition and each co-owner’s share, often by motion rather than trial.
When defendants ignore a partition summons and complaint, the plaintiff can get a default judgment ordering the property partitioned, usually by sale.
A California partition action can resolve ownership, title disputes, reimbursements, rent, liens, fees, and the sale. Learn its scope, limits, and how the accounting affects your payout.
A partition action usually takes seven to nine months, depending on the circumstances and complexity of the case. Here are the factors that affect timing.
Partition defendants who claim their co-owner was only a co-borrower face an uphill battle, because Evidence Code section 662 presumes the person on title is a true owner.
Unlike most lawsuits, a California partition action has two phases. The interlocutory judgment ends the first phase by deciding the right to partition, before the sale and accounting.
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.
In Summers v. Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal held that a court cannot order a partition sale before deciding each co-owner’s ownership share, and those “interests” are ownership shares, not offset claims.
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.720 requires the court in a partition action to enter an interlocutory judgment once it finds the plaintiff is entitled to partition. That judgment sets the ownership interests and the manner of partition.
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Practical guides from attorneys who focus exclusively on California partition actions.
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