Yes. A minority owner can force a partition in California. Any co-owner of real property can file a partition action, no matter how small their share, and no majority vote is needed. If you own just 1% of a property, you can file a partition complaint. This is because the right to partition in California is absolute.
One court explained that “if the party seeking partition is shown to be a tenant in common, and as such entitled to the possession of the land sought to be partitioned, the right is absolute.” Bacon v. Wahrhaftig (1950) 97 Cal.App.2d 599, 603.
California Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210 (CCP 872.210) provides in relevant part:
A partition action may be commenced and maintained by any of the following persons: … (2) An owner of an estate of inheritance, an estate for life, or an estate for years in real property where such property or estate therein is owned by several persons concurrently or in successive estates.
No Majority Vote Is Needed
Many co-owners believe that only someone who owns more than half of a property can force a sale. That is wrong. California courts hold that “a cotenant is entitled to partition as a matter of absolute right” and that “[t]he only indispensable requirement to its award is that a clear title be shown”. De Roulet v. Mitchel (1945) 70 Cal.App.2d 120, 124. Nothing in the law ties that right to the size of your share.
In fact, many partition actions are filed by a co-owner who owns exactly half, such as a former couple or two siblings who each inherited 50%. Neither owner has a majority, yet these cases routinely end in a sale. The same is true when the owner who files holds 1%, 10%, or one-third of the property, and when the majority owner refuses to sell.
What You Need to Prove
To prevail in a partition action, a party must prove through the property deed(s), other title paperwork, judgments, or any estate planning documents, if applicable, that they have an interest in the property. (Code of Civil Procedure §§ 872.210(a)(2), 872.720(a).) The size of your share does not affect your right to file. It affects how much money you receive when the property is sold.
Sometimes a majority owner tries to scare off a minority owner by claiming that a small share is not worth the attorney’s fees. That argument backfires. That is because the law is that “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.” California Code of Civil Procedure section 874.040 (CCP 874.040). Under that default rule, a 10% co-owner can ask the court to have the other co-owners pay 90% of the partition attorney’s fees.
Can the Majority Owner Buy You Out Instead?
Sometimes. For most property held as tenants in common, the Partition of Real Property Act applies. When a co-owner asks for a sale, the court first sets the fair market value, and the co-owners who did not ask for a sale may buy out the shares of those who did at that value. Code of Civil Procedure section 874.317 (CCP 874.317 cotenant buyout). Either way, the minority owner gets paid and the co-ownership ends.
Two Narrow Exceptions
The right to partition has two narrow exceptions, and neither depends on the size of your share. First, spouses cannot use a partition action to divide community property; that is handled in family court. Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210(b) (CCP 872.210 persons who may file a partition). Second, the “right of partition may be waived by contract, either express or implied.” LEG Investments v. Boxler (2010) 183 Cal.App.4th 484, 493.
Talkov Law's Partition Attorneys Can Help
If your co-owner won’t agree to sell or buy you out, a partition action ends the co-ownership for good. Talkov Law can help. With 12 full-time partition attorneys and experience in over 650 partition actions throughout California, Talkov Law is California’s #1 partition law firm. Our team handles every step of the process, from filing the partition action through the sale or buyout and the final division of the proceeds. Not a single court has denied our clients the right to partition.
Call (877) PARTITION (727-8484) today or contact us online for a free consultation with a partition attorney.
