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Partition Actions in California: When Co-Owners or Heirs Can't Agree

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

A partition action is a lawsuit in which one co-owner of California real estate asks the court to end the co-ownership, either by dividing the property or by ordering it sold and splitting the money. Any co-owner can bring one under Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210, and for most tenancy-in-common property the Partition of Real Property Act (sections 874.311 and following) now sets the steps: a court-ordered appraisal, a buyout window for the co-owners who did not ask for a sale, and, if a sale happens, an open-market listing by a licensed real estate broker.

This guide is for siblings who inherited a house together, unmarried partners, friends or relatives who bought jointly, and investors holding property as tenants in common. It explains who can file, how a court chooses between division and sale, what the 2023 rules changed, what a case costs, and the ways co-owners settle before a judge decides. It sits within our probate and trust sales guides.

Who can file a partition action, and who can’t

Section 872.210 lets a co-owner of personal property, or an owner of an estate of inheritance, a life estate or an estate for years in real property, file when the property or estate is owned by several people concurrently or in successive estates. In plain terms, almost any person on title with someone else can ask a court to end the arrangement.

There are two important limits:

Spouses. The same section bars a partition action between spouses or putative spouses over their community or quasi-community property. Those questions belong in the family law case; our post on selling a home during a divorce covers that path.
Agreements. Co-owners can agree in writing on how partition will work, and the Partition of Real Property Act applies only where no agreement in a record binding all the cotenants governs partition (section 874.311). Read the deed, any tenancy-in-common agreement, LLC or partnership documents and any recorded covenant before you assume the default rules apply.

Timing matters too. While a house is still held in a trust or a probate estate, the trustee or personal representative manages the sale, as our guides to selling a house held in a trust and selling a house in probate explain. Partition usually becomes the question once title has been distributed to several heirs who then can’t agree.

Division or sale: what the court can order

The general partition statute starts from division. Section 872.810 directs the court to divide the property among the parties according to their interests as set out in the interlocutory judgment, which is the court’s ruling on who owns what.

Section 872.820 then requires a sale instead in two situations: when the parties agree to a sale, in their pleadings or otherwise, or when the court finds that selling and dividing the proceeds “would be more equitable” than dividing the land itself. The court may appoint a referee and weigh the referee’s report in making that finding.

For a single-family house, physical division is rarely practical, so most residential cases end in a sale or a buyout. Acreage, ranch land or a vineyard may be different, but any split into separate parcels still has to work under local zoning and subdivision rules; our overview of subdividing land in Sonoma and Napa describes those approvals.

The referee

Under section 873.010, the court appoints a referee to divide or sell the property as it orders. The court can require a bond, give the referee instructions, fix reasonable compensation and expenses, require interim and final accountings, and remove or replace the referee.

The Partition of Real Property Act (cases filed since 2023)

California first adopted these procedures for inherited land. Assembly Bill 633 (Calderon), Chapter 119 of the Statutes of 2021, approved July 23, 2021, enacted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act for actions filed on or after January 1, 2022. A 2022 bill, AB 2245, took out the heirs-property limits so the procedures would reach any real property held by tenants in common, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s analysis.

The current section 874.311 calls the result the Partition of Real Property Act. As of October 2026, it applies to tenancy-in-common real property with no binding partition agreement, in actions filed on or after January 1, 2023. Under section 874.313, such property must be partitioned under the Act unless all the cotenants agree otherwise in a record, and the Act controls over any inconsistent part of the general partition title.

Stage	What happens	Key time limits	Statute
Value	The court orders an appraisal by a disinterested California-licensed appraiser, valuing the property as if one person owned it outright, unless all cotenants agree on a value or method, or the court finds an appraisal not worth its cost and holds a hearing instead	Notice within 10 days after the appraisal is filed; objections within 30 days after notice; hearing no sooner than 30 days after notice	874.316
Buyout	If anyone asked for a sale, any cotenant who did not may buy all the interests of those who did, at the court’s value times each seller’s fractional share	45 days to elect; payment into court by a date at least 60 days after notice; a 20-day window if some buyers fail to pay	874.317
Division or sale	The court orders division in kind unless that would cause “great prejudice to the cotenants as a group”; otherwise it orders a sale, and dismisses the case if nobody asked for one	None stated	874.318, 874.319
Sale	An open-market sale through a licensed broker is the default, at a price no lower than the court’s value, unless sealed bids or an auction would be more economically advantageous	10 days for the parties to agree on a broker	874.320

If the plaintiff asks to serve absent co-owners by publication, section 874.314 also requires a sign on the property, posted within 10 days after the court’s determination and kept up while the case is pending, stating that the action has started and naming the court.

How the court weighs division against sale

Section 874.319 lists what the court considers in deciding whether dividing the land would cause great prejudice to the group:

whether the property can practicably be divided among the cotenants;
whether the separate pieces would be worth materially less in total than the whole, considering the likely conditions of a court-ordered sale;
how long a cotenant and related predecessors have owned or possessed it;
a cotenant’s sentimental attachment, including ancestral or other unique value;
a cotenant’s current lawful use and the harm from losing it;
whether cotenants paid their share of taxes, insurance and other costs, or cared for and improved the property; and
any other relevant factor.

No single factor decides the case. When the court orders division, section 874.318 lets it require equalizing payments between cotenants and requires it to set aside a share for cotenants who are unknown, can’t be located or are in default.

What happens in a court-ordered sale

Section 874.320 makes the open-market listing the normal route. If the parties agree on a California-licensed broker within 10 days after the sale order, the court appoints that broker; if not, it appoints a disinterested licensed broker. Either way the court sets a reasonable commission, and the broker must offer the property “in a commercially reasonable manner” at no less than the court’s value, on terms the court sets.

When a qualifying offer arrives, the broker reports it under the Act’s reporting rules and the sale closes under state law. If none arrives within a reasonable time, the court may, after a hearing, approve the highest offer, set a new value and keep marketing, or order sealed bids or an auction. A co-owner who buys gets a credit against the price for their own share of the proceeds.

From the market’s point of view, a court-supervised listing is still a listing: the house needs disclosures, access for showings, photographs and a pricing plan that fits the court’s value. Occupied homes add tenant notice and showing rules; our guide to inherited rental property covers those.

What a partition costs, and who pays

Partition is expensive because it combines a lawsuit, an appraisal and a sale. Section 874.010 defines the costs of partition to include:

reasonable attorney’s fees incurred or paid by a party for the common benefit;
the referee’s fee and expenses;
a surveyor or other person the referee hires, at the contracted rate;
the reasonable cost of a title report, with interest at the legal rate; and
other expenses the court finds were for the common benefit.

Under section 874.040, the court generally divides those costs in proportion to each party’s interest, though it may use another split it finds fair. Fees a party spends only on its own side of a dispute may not count as common benefit, so ask your attorney which charges are likely to be shared.

Ownership costs keep running during the case: property tax, insurance, any loan, utilities and repairs. Keep records of who pays what, since contributions are one of the factors the court weighs under section 874.319.

Ways co-owners settle without a court-ordered sale

Most co-owners would rather agree than litigate, and the Act’s own structure points to the usual settlements.

Agree on value first. A neutral appraisal, or a broker’s market analysis as a starting point, gives everyone a common number. Our comparative market analysis guide explains what a broker’s estimate covers and what it doesn’t; for inherited property, a date-of-death valuation may already exist.
Price a buyout. One owner buys the others’ shares, often with new financing. Check the property tax effect before signing: our Prop 19 inherited home guide explains why a buyout between siblings is reassessed on the share transferred.
Agree on a sale with ground rules. All owners sign one listing agreement with an agreed list price, a price floor, a decision rule for offers and a plan for repairs and costs.
Rent for a set period, then sell. Write down who manages the property, how rent and expenses are split and the date the sale starts.
Use a mediator. A mediator experienced in real estate or estate disputes can help when the disagreement is really about family history rather than price.

Our post on co-owners who disagree about selling an inherited house and our guide to inherited houses in California work through these options in more detail. Diamond may refer you to partners we work with, such as attorneys, appraisers and mediators; you’re free to choose any provider.

Where a real estate broker fits in

A broker can help at three points: preparing a market analysis for settlement talks, serving as the broker the parties agree on within the 10-day window, or listing the property after a court appoints one. Diamond Real Estate Group handles probate and trust sales and residential, vineyard and commercial property across Sonoma, Napa, Marin, San Francisco and the wider Bay Area, and reaches buyers through the MLS, its own client database and targeted marketing.

A broker’s role is the market, not the law. Ownership shares, credits between co-owners, the court’s value and the terms of sale are for the parties, their attorneys and the court.

Questions people ask

Can my sibling force a sale of our inherited house in California?

A co-owner can file a partition action asking the court to divide or sell the property. For tenancy-in-common property in cases filed since 2023, the Partition of Real Property Act first gives the co-owners who did not ask for a sale a chance to buy the others out at the court’s appraised value.

What is the Partition of Real Property Act?

It is the set of procedures in Code of Civil Procedure sections 874.311 and following for partitioning tenancy-in-common real property with no binding partition agreement, in actions filed on or after January 1, 2023. It adds a court appraisal, a buyout right, factors for choosing division or sale, and an open-market sale through a licensed broker.

Can I buy out the other owners instead of selling?

Yes, by agreement at any time, or under section 874.317 if another co-owner requested a sale. In that case you have 45 days after the court’s notice to elect to buy, and you pay the court’s value times each seller’s fractional share.

Who pays the attorney’s fees in a partition action?

Reasonable fees incurred for the common benefit are a cost of partition under section 874.010, along with the referee’s fees and a title report. The court usually divides those costs in proportion to ownership shares, but it can choose another fair split.

Can a court divide the land instead of selling it?

Yes. Under the Act the court orders division in kind unless it would cause great prejudice to the co-owners as a group, weighing factors such as whether the land can practicably be divided and whether the pieces would be worth materially less than the whole.

Does a court-ordered sale have to be an auction?

No. Under section 874.320 an open-market sale through a licensed broker is the default, at a price no lower than the court’s determination of value. Sealed bids or an auction are used only if the court finds them more economically advantageous, or if no acceptable offer arrives.

Can spouses use a partition action to divide a house?

Not for community or quasi-community property. Section 872.210 bars partition actions between spouses or putative spouses over that property, so it is handled in the family law case.

This is general information, not legal advice. Partition rights, buyout deadlines and cost awards turn on your deed, any co-owner agreement and the court’s orders, so talk to a California real estate litigation attorney before you file or answer a partition complaint.

If you share a property with relatives or partners and need a clear market value, a buyout figure or a listing plan that every owner can sign, contact Diamond Real Estate Group for a confidential conversation.

Sources & notes

Statutes were read on the California Public Law mirror in October 2026; the official text is at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Court procedures and local rules vary by county.

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.