In Machado v. Machado, the California Supreme Court held that a joint tenancy deed creates a presumption that can be overcome only by evidence of a common understanding or agreement between the owners, not by one owner’s hidden intentions.
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.
In Cosler v. Norwood, the California Court of Appeal upheld a 3/4–1/4 split between joint tenants based on what each actually paid, holding that a co-owner who sues for partition and an accounting puts both owners’ interests in issue, so the joint tenancy deed is only one piece of evidence.
In Kershman v. Kershman, the California Court of Appeal held that co-owners on a joint tenancy deed can own unequal shares if they agreed their shares would follow what each paid, and that a co-owner’s debts come out of his share of the sale proceeds, not his ownership percentage, so he keeps his share of the appreciation.
A resulting trust is how California law protects someone who paid for real estate titled in another person’s name. If you put money toward the purchase, you may own a share the deed does not show, and a partition action lets the court decide that share before the property is sold, so you receive the … Read More
A grant deed transfers California real estate and promises the signer has not already sold the property or secretly placed liens on it. Here is how it differs from a quitclaim deed and what it means for co-owners.
Clear and convincing evidence means a fact is highly probable, not just more likely true than not. California requires it before a court will rule that a deed is wrong about who owns the property.
The vesting worksheet signed during escrow is usually why a deed says joint tenants or tenants in common. Co-owners who say they never agreed usually signed it, and the choice affects a California partition action.
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.
No. Having both names on the deed does not mean your ex automatically gets half. In a California partition action, the co-owner who paid more is generally repaid first, with one major exception.
Parents and children often hold title as joint tenants so the property passes automatically to the survivor. But a joint tenancy can be severed, which can upend what the child expected.
A quiet title action asks a court to decide who owns property. In co-ownership disputes, it is often paired with a partition action, which ends the co-ownership.
Many deeds name three or more co-owners without saying how much each owns. That question becomes critical in a partition action. Here are the factors courts consider.
A co-owner can be removed from a California house title by a deed with their agreement, or without it through a partition action. Quiet title is available only in narrow cases.
In a joint tenancy, co-owners hold equal shares with a right of survivorship. Here is how joint tenancy is created in California and what happens when it ends.
A California partition action can resolve ownership, title disputes, reimbursements, rent, liens, fees, and the sale. Learn its scope, limits, and how the accounting affects your payout.
Partition defendants who claim their co-owner was only a co-borrower face an uphill battle, because Evidence Code section 662 presumes the person on title is a true owner.
Legal title is who appears on the deed. Equitable title can belong to someone else. The difference often matters when a partition action involves a quiet title dispute.
A partition action is a court-ordered division of property. Here are common examples of co-ownership disputes that lead to a partition in California.
One of the most common co-ownership disputes is what happens when one co-owner paid more than their share of the down payment. Here is how a partition action handles it.
How a co-owner who wants out wins a partition action in California: force the sale or a buyout, answer the defenses your co-owner will raise, maximize your offsets, and build your record from day one.
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.610 provides that the interests of all parties, plaintiff and defendant alike, may be tried and decided in the partition action.
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.620 lets the court determine the state of the title as part of the partition action.
Title means ownership; a deed transfers an interest in property. Learn how California deeds, title insurance, liens, and mortgages affect co-owners.
Under Evidence Code section 662, the person on the deed is presumed to own the property unless clear and convincing evidence shows the owners agreed otherwise.
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Practical guides from attorneys who focus exclusively on California partition actions.
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