California Code of Civil Procedure 873.910 is the California partition statute that allows the court to order a manner of partition known as a partition by appraisal, but only when “the parties…agree” to such a remedy. The statute provides that:
When the interests of all parties are undisputed or have been adjudicated, the parties may agree upon a partition by appraisal pursuant to this chapter.
California Code of Civil Procedure 873.910
The Law Revision Comment from 1976 to California Code of Civil Procedure 873.910 explains that: “The purpose of this chapter is to provide an alternative method of partition for coowners who agree to use this method.” Miller & Starr explains plainly that: “Partition by appraisal requires agreement of the parties to that method.” Right of partition—Procedure in partition action, 4 Cal. Real Est. (4th ed.) § 11:15. Miller & Starr cites the 2017 Court of Appeal ruling in Cummings v. Dessel (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 589, 601, explaining the “limitation that partition by appraisal may occur only where the parties have agreed in writing.”
As a practical matter, few parties ask the court to oversee a partition by appraisal since, if they were willing to agree on the buyer and method of valuation as required by the partition by appraisal statutory scheme, judicial oversight would seemingly be unnecessary.
Law Revision Commission Comment
The 1976 Law Revision Commission Comment to Code of Civil Procedure § 873.910 provides as follows:
Section 873.910 and the other sections in this chapter are new. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an alternative method of partition for coowners who agree to use this method. A guardian ad litem may be appointed to represent contingent interests and may agree to the procedure under this chapter on their behalf. A statutory procedure based upon appraisal by referee, with court supervision, may in some situations serve the interests of parties who find themselves in disagreement since an acquisition method does not involve the same tax consequences as a partition sale. See 3 J. Rabkin & M. Johnson, Federal Income, Gift and Estate Taxation § 43.01 (1975).
Although the same result can be accomplished by an agreement to arbitrate, the authority of the court under this chapter is much broader than in case of arbitration (see Title 9 (commencing with Section 1280) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
Talkov Law's Partition Attorneys Can Help
If you want to end your co-ownership relationship, but your co-owner won’t agree, a partition action is your only option. With seven, full time partition lawyers, Talkov Law is the #1 partition law firm in California and has handled over 370 partition actions throughout California. Every case has resulted in a sale to either a third party or one of the co-owners. Not a single court has denied our clients the right to partition or declared our client to be a non-owner. Plus, for qualified cases, there is no fee until we settle or win your case!
If you're looking to end your co-ownership dispute, contact California's premier partition action law firm by calling Talkov Law at (844) 4-TALKOV (825568) or sending us a message today.
