Santa Maria Partition Lawyer

Partition Actions in Santa Maria

Santa Maria is a city located in the Central Coast region of California, about 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It is the largest city in Santa Barbara County and is known for its agricultural production, particularly strawberries. The city is home to a variety of attractions, including the Santa Maria Valley Historical Museum, the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, and the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum. The city also hosts a variety of festivals and events throughout the year, including the Santa Maria Valley Strawberry Festival and the Santa Maria Valley Wine & Food Festival. Santa Maria is also home to a number of wineries, restaurants, and shopping centers.

According to Zillow, the median home value in Santa Maria, California is $541,400 as of 2021. The population of the Santa Maria area of California is 106,717.

Experienced Real Estate Partition Action Attorneys Serving Santa Maria

Talkov Law’s attorneys serving Santa Barbara County are exceptionally experienced in the area of California partition actions. A California partition action is a law that allows co-owners of real property to divide the property among themselves. The partition statutes provide a legal mechanism for co-owners to divide the property without having to go through the court system. The partition statutes also provide a way for co-owners to resolve disputes over the division of the property. The partition statutes provide that the court may order a partition of the property if the co-owners cannot agree on a division. The court may also order the sale of the property and the division of the proceeds among the co-owners. The partition statutes also provide that the court may award attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing party in a partition action.

Our team of partition attorneys can assist co-owners with frequently asked questions about partitions, such as:

• Can a partition action be stopped or dismissed in California? The truth is that there are very few affirmative defenses in a partition action, and those defenses are rarely applied by courts in California.
• How to force the sale of jointly owned property? A partition action is the only statutory method to ensure the end of the co-ownership dispute.
• What is recoverable in a partition action? “In a suit for partition it is a general rule that all equities and conflicting claims existing between the parties and arising out of their relation to the property to be partitioned may be adjusted.” Demetris v. Demetris (1954) 125 Cal. App. 2d 440. This means that co-owners can assert offsets or recover payments of the mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs and improvements in excess of their fractional interests.
• Can a Trust File a Partition? Yes, a trust can file a partition action as the co-owner of real property in California.
• Can you lose interest in a jointly owned home by moving out? Generally, co-owners maintain their ownership interests regardless of whether they live at the property. However, in rare cases, leaving the property for many years without paying taxes or other expenses may allow the co-owners in possession to argue that they have adversely possessed the property. Generally, these co-ownership disputes do not get easier with time, so it is important to act promptly.