California Code of Civil Procedure 874.010 is the California partition statute that allows the court to order certain costs of the partition to be allowed and apportioned between the parties. The statute provides that:
The costs of partition include:
California Code of Civil Procedure 874.010.
(a) Reasonable attorney’s fees incurred or paid by a party for the common benefit.
(b) The fee and expenses of the referee.
(c) The compensation provided by contract for services of a surveyor or other person employed by the referee in the action.
(d) The reasonable costs of a title report procured pursuant to Section 872.220 with interest thereon at the legal rate from the time of payment or, if paid before commencement of the action, from the time of commencement of the action.
(e) Other disbursements or expenses determined by the court to have been incurred or paid for the common benefit.
Generally, each co-owner will pay their own attorney’s fees for a partition action. However, California partition law does allow the court to award “reasonable attorney’s fees incurred or paid by a party for the common benefit.”[1] Generally, “the court shall apportion the costs of partition among the parties in proportion to their interests or make such other apportionment as may be equitable.” [2] Even referee fees can be allocated entirely to one of the co-owners. [3]
This means that, if one co-owner is extremely uncooperative, and a court judgment of partition is ultimately required, the court may indeed award part or all of an cooperative co-owner’s attorney’s fees from the equity of the uncooperative co-owner.
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 twelve, full time partition lawyers, Talkov Law is the #1 partition law firm in California and has handled over 600 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 (877) PARTITION (727-8484) or sending us a message today.
References
| ↑1 | California Code of Civil Procedure 874.010(a) |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | California Code of Civil Procedure 874.040 |
| ↑3 | Sullivan v. Dorsa (2005) 128 Cal. App. 4th 947, 966 |
