In Lindsay-Field v. Friendly, the California Court of Appeal held that a co-owner has no authority to bind another co-owner’s interest without that owner’s agreement, so a deal approved by most of the owners, but not all, bound no one.
In Swartzbaugh v. Sampson, the California Court of Appeal held that one co-owner can lease jointly owned property without the other’s consent, but the lease is valid only as to the signer’s share, and the other owner keeps her right to possession and to partition.
California Civil Code section 685 defines an interest in common, or tenancy in common: property owned by several persons, not in joint ownership or partnership. Every tenant in common can use the whole property and can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 682 lists the four ways several people can own property together: joint tenancy, partnership, tenancy in common, and community property. Joint tenants and tenants in common can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 686 makes co-owners tenants in common by default, unless the property was acquired by a partnership, the deed or will expressly declares a joint tenancy, or it was acquired as community property.
In Caiozzo v. 2672 to 2674 North Beachwood Drive, LLC, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a trust’s right to partition a co-owned Los Angeles duplex and rejected the LLC’s reliance on a “fairness” defense.
In Bacon v. Wahrhaftig, the California Court of Appeal revived a Kern County oil-land partition, holding that fraud, damages and accounting claims against co-owners are part of one partition case, and that the court can decide every issue needed to do complete justice.
In Adams v. Hopkins, the California Supreme Court held that the statute of limitations never bars a partition action between co-owners. Time matters only when a co-owner has already lost title to another through adverse possession.
California Civil Code section 683 defines a joint tenancy: two or more owners in equal shares, under one deed or will that expressly declares a joint tenancy, with a right of survivorship. Without that declaration, co-owners are tenants in common.
Yes, a California co-owner can sell their half of a jointly owned property without the other owner’s consent, but almost no one buys half a house at full value, so the way to cash out your share for what it is actually worth is a co-owner buyout or a partition action.
In Lazzarevich v. Lazzarevich, the California Supreme Court held that a joint tenant has a right to partition unless waived, and that an unpaid judgment owed to a co-owner cannot defeat that right.
In De Roulet v. Mitchel, the California Court of Appeal held that a co-owner cannot block or delay a partition sale because the property has a profitable lease or its value is expected to rise.
In Priddel v. Shankie, the California Court of Appeal held that a co-owner’s right to partition is absolute and that another co-owner’s homestead on their own share cannot stop a court-ordered sale.
When siblings inherit a parent’s California home, one sibling’s qualifying occupancy can preserve the Proposition 19 exclusion for all inherited shares, subject to the value cap and filing requirements. A later sibling buyout generally triggers reassessment of the share transferred.
In LEG Investments v. Boxler, the California Court of Appeal held that a right of first refusal between co-owners does not waive partition. The co-owner who wants out must offer its share first; if the other owner declines, a partition sale can follow.
When five siblings inherit a house and three want to sell, the other two cannot stop the sale, whether one lives in the house or one is simply on the fence. Any one of the three can file a partition action, and every other sibling is named as a defendant without having to take a side.
A California transfer on death deed can name several beneficiaries. When the owner dies, they inherit the house together in equal shares. If they cannot agree on keeping, renting, or selling it, any one of them can file a partition action.
A partition action can proceed against a co-owner on active military duty, but the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act allows stays of at least 90 days and bars default judgments until the court appoints counsel.
You can put your share of a co-owned house into a trust, but doing so usually severs a joint tenancy. That often signals the co-owners’ shared plan has broken down.
You can’t make an addicted co-owner pay, move out, or sell, but a California court can order the house sold and credit you for what you paid.
Usually not. An appeal of a California partition judgment ordering a sale generally does not stop the sale unless the appealing co-owner posts an undertaking set by the trial court.
An interlocutory judgment of partition closes the first phase of a California partition case. You obtain it by proving your right to partition and each co-owner’s share, often by motion rather than trial.
Usually, yes. Filing first in a partition action gives you control over the timeline, the court, the lis pendens, and how the case is framed, advantages the responding co-owner cannot easily reclaim.
A co-owner who refuses to sell, even one living in the house, cannot block a sale in California. A partition action lets any co-owner force the sale and collect their share.
Not without his agreement. If your ex-boyfriend refuses to sign over his share, a California partition action can end the co-ownership through a court-supervised sale or buyout.
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