Yes, a restraining order can remove a co-owner from a California house they own. A move-out order under a domestic violence restraining order can exclude a co-owner from the home no matter whose name is on title, but it decides only who lives there for now and does not replace a partition action when the owners need to sell or divide the property.
Co-owners normally cannot evict a co-owner or change the locks without a co-owner’s permission. A protective order is one of the few exceptions, so it matters which kind of order fits your relationship.
Which Restraining Order Can Make a Co-Owner Move Out
California has three common protective orders, and only two of them can order a co-owner out of the house:
- Domestic violence restraining order: under Family Code section 6321, the court may exclude a party from a shared home regardless of which party holds legal or equitable title. The court must find that the person staying has a right to possession, that the excluded person assaulted or threatened to assault them, and that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result.
- Elder or dependent adult abuse restraining order: Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.03 allows an order excluding the abuser from the elder’s residence. It cannot be used when title is in the excluded person’s sole name, or in their name with someone other than the elder, but it can be used when the elder and the abuser own the house together.
- Civil harassment restraining order: it can order a co-owner to stay away and stop contact, but the court’s own information form says it cannot order a person to move out of your residence.
Siblings and Ex-Partners Usually Qualify for a Move-Out Order
A domestic violence restraining order is not limited to spouses. It covers current and former spouses, cohabitants, dating partners, the other parent of your child, and relatives within the second degree, which includes parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren.
That reaches most of the co-owners we see in an inherited property dispute, an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend property dispute, or another intra-family partition. Cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and investment partners fall outside it, so for them a move-out order is generally not available, and options such as removing an occupant from an inherited house run through the partition case instead.
A Move-Out Order Changes Possession, Not Ownership
The restrained co-owner still owns the same share of the house. The family court may also issue temporary orders on who uses the property and who pays the liens coming due while the order lasts, which can settle who covers the mortgage for now, as discussed in our post on a co-owner not paying the mortgage.
Being moved out also does not take away the restrained owner’s right to partition. Any co-owner may file under Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210, and in most cases the house is ultimately sold through partition by sale.
Ouster and Rent Credits After a Restraining Order
In Zaslow v. Kroenert (1946) 29 Cal.2d 541, the California Supreme Court described ouster as “the wrongful dispossession or exclusion by one tenant of his cotenant or cotenants from the common property of which they are entitled to possession.” Before claiming damages for ouster after a move-out order, a co-owner should expect the other owner to point to the court’s order as the reason for the exclusion.
The money still evens out in the partition accounting under Code of Civil Procedure section 872.140. Under Hunter v. Schultz (1966) 240 Cal.App.2d 24, the value of a co-owner’s sole use of the house may be offset against the interest, taxes, and insurance that co-owner paid (see our analysis of the decision).
How a Partition Works When the Owners Cannot Have Contact
A no-contact order does not stop a partition, but it changes how the case runs. Communication goes through the attorneys, and a partition referee can handle the appraisal, listing, showings, and sale so the owners never deal with each other directly, one reason partition referees are essential in high-conflict cases.
The partition court has broad power under Code of Civil Procedure section 872.120, and Code of Civil Procedure section 872.130 lets it issue orders to prevent waste or interference with the sale. Those property orders work alongside the family court’s protective order.
A buyout is still possible. If one owner wants to buy out the other’s share, the agreement should be drafted by counsel, given the hidden dangers of do-it-yourself settlement agreements.
A restraining order should never be sought as a shortcut to winning the house, because it requires proof of abuse and a request that is really about the property can backfire. When the real problem is a co-owner who will not sell, partition is the remedy, and our partition action timeline shows what to expect. Problems such as drug addiction in co-ownership disputes often call for both.
Talkov Law can help. With 12 full-time partition attorneys and experience in over 650 partition actions throughout California, our team helps co-owners end high-conflict co-ownership safely, from a restraining order through the final distribution of sale proceeds. Call (877) PARTITION (727-8484) today or contact us online to get started.
