Code of Civil Procedure 872.510 CCP – Joinder of Defendants (Partition Actions)

California Code of Civil Procedure 872.510 is the California partition statute that explains who should be joined as a defendant in a partition action. The statute provides that:

The plaintiff shall join as defendants in the action all persons having or claiming interests of record or actually known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property, in the estate as to which partition is sought.

California Code of Civil Procedure 872.510

This statute requires that anyone who has or claims to have an interest in a property shall be joined in the partition action. However, there are exceptions in light of Code of Civil Procedure 874.225, notably that the partition “judgment does not affect a claim in the property or part thereof of any person who was not a party to the action if… The claim was of record at the time the lis pendens was filed….” such that “Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impair the rights of a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value dealing with the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s successors in interest.” Code Civ. Proc. § 874.225. This is explained even further, below.

Code of Civil Procedure 874.225 – Claim in Property of Person Not a Party to Action; Effect of Judgment; Conditions (Partition Actions)

Impact of Failure to Name Lienholders and Other Interested Parties in a Partition Action

An unpublished opinion in 2025 found that the failure to name third parties, such as lenders, simply means that the judgment has no impact on those non-parties, but does not impact the ability of the court to decide the partition so long as co-owners have been named. Cliff R. Russell v. Robert J. Russell (Cal. Ct. App., Aug. 29, 2025, No. A167911) 2025 WL 2490516. As the court explained:

Under section 872.510, partition actions require joinder of “all persons having or claiming interests of record or actually known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property, in the estate as to which partition is sought.”

Robert contends that numerous persons and entities had an interest in the property: the mortgage holder; Robert as an individual, as a beneficiary of his revocable trust, as a tenant on the property, and as a coborrower under the mortgage; Cliff’s sister as a tenant; and the “oral partnership” between Robert and Cliff to own and improve the property. Because they were not joined as parties to this case, Robert argues that the default judgment against Robert’s trust, which was named as a defendant, is void and must be reversed. Robert did not raise this argument in his motions to set aside the judgment. In any event, his argument is incorrect. Section 874.225 provides that, subject to exceptions not material here, the judgment in a partition action “does not affect a claim in the property or part thereof” of nonjoined interest holders if “[t]he claim was actually known to the plaintiff or would have been reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was entered.” (§ 874.225, subd. (b).) Robert does not demonstrate in his opening brief that any of the persons or entities he thinks should have been joined have lost any claim by Cliff’s failure to join them in the litigation. Moreover, nothing in section 874.225 suggests that the failure to join interest holders voids an interlocutory judgment that was properly entered against a named defendant. It is true that co-owners must be joined to obtain a partition of property. (See Solomon v. Redona (1921) 52 Cal.App. 300, 305-306 [decided under § 389].) But as alleged in the amended complaint, the only owners of the Property are Cliff and Robert as trustee (or more accurately, the trust). The first paragraph of the amended complaint alleges: “The Property is held as a tenancy-in-common by CLIFF R. RUSSELL (‘Plaintiff’), the title owner of an undivided one-tenth (1/10) interest in the Property, and defendant ROBERT J. RUSSELL, TRUSTEE, THE ROBERT JOHN RUSSELL TRUST A/u DATED MARCH 16, 2001, (‘Defendant’), the title owner of an undivided nine-tenths (9/10) interest in the fee simple title to the Property.” By defaulting, Robert as trustee is deemed to have admitted those allegations. (Kim v. Westmoore Partners, Inc. (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 267, 281 (Kim) [defaulting defendant admits the well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint].) All co-owners — Cliff and Robert as trustee of the trust — have therefore been joined to the litigation.

Robert also contends reversal is required under section 389, which states in part: “A person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive the [trial] court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action shall be joined as a party in the action if … he claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in his absence may … as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest.” (§ 389, subd. (a).) But Robert does not establish that any of the purported interest holders are covered by section 389. And even if they were, their absence from the case would not compel the reversal of the default judgment as to Robert as trustee. “Failure to join an ‘indispensable’ party is not ‘a jurisdictional defect’ in the fundamental sense; even in the absence of an ‘indispensable’ party, the court still has the power to render a decision as to the parties before it which will stand.” (Sierra Club, Inc. v. California Coastal Com. (1979) 95 Cal.App.3d 495, 500.) Robert therefore fails to establish that the default judgment is void as against Robert as trustee.

Liens on Only One Party’s Interests

In some situations, the lien is only against some, but not all, of the co-owners. As Miller & Starr explains: “When the court orders a sale, the property can be sold free and clear of all liens and encumbrances. The blanket liens that are a lien on the entire property are satisfied from the sale proceeds in accordance with the proportionate ownership of all the tenants in common. The remaining proceeds are then divided in accordance with their respective interests, and the creditors who have a lien on the interest of only one tenant in common are satisfied from the proceeds due that tenant.” ^[1]Right of partition—Partition by a sale of the property, 4 Cal. Real Est. § 11:17 (4th ed.) (citing Lee v. National Collection Agency, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 1982) 543 F.Supp. 920, 922 … Continue reading See Code of Civil Procedure 873.820.

Law Revision Commission Comments to California Code of Civil Procedure § 872.510

In 1976, the California Law Revision Commission explained California Code of Civil Procedure § 872.510 as follows:

Section 872.510 supersedes former Section 754 (no person having a lien or “conveyance” need be made a party unless of record). Under Section 872.510, only persons having interests in the estate or estates as to which partition is sought need be joined. This provision is elaborated in the succeeding sections of this article. It should be noted that “interest” includes liens and that joinder of additional parties may be necessary under Section 389 (mandatory joinder).

For the effect of failure to join the holder of a recorded interest, see Section 874.220; for the effect of failure to join holders of interests actually known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property, see Section 874.230.

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Post Updated August 31, 2025