How a Property Can Be Partitioned Between Co-Owners

Updated on November 21, 2024

How should a property be partitioned between co-owners? Is there a correct way for a property to be partitioned? In this blog post we will discuss how a property can be partitioned between co-owners.

One of the common situations we see is family members who co-own real property and do not agree on what to do with the property (keep it or sell it). Often times family members come to own real property through inheritance or even through a business venture that has gone wrong. How do you divide property among heirs or family members? How can you avoid the real property driving a wedge between the family?

Here are 5 tips for partition of property among family members. Based on your experience with the family members, you can get through the difficult process of partitioning property co-owned with a family member.

1.  Early Mediation/Settlement Conference

If you cannot reach an agreement among your family, seeks the assistance of a third party. That third party can be a judge, a real estate attorney, or even a family friend. Meeting and trying to resolve differences with shared ownership can ultimately save the parties money, stress and animosity.

2.  Nail Down the Numbers

Many efforts to resolve family disputes involving partitioning real property never get off the ground because the family members come to the partition dispute without a good handle on the numbers. What numbers? The accounting numbers. Any partition action necessarily involves an accounting.

The accounting includes understanding who has a right to reimbursement for expenses paid for the common benefit. Those expenses include categories of expenses like mortgage payments, property taxes, property insurance and repairs to the property. Without a firm handle on these expenses it can be very hard to resolve property ownership disputes.

3.  Figure Out Your Goals

Often the issue with partitioning real property co-owned by family is that different family members have different objectives. Early on it helps to assess whether members of the family would like to sell or simply buy out the other members of the family. This is important for understanding the role the value of the property will play.

4. Determine The Value of the Property

This is often the tail the wags the dog. Many families have difficulty resolving partition matters because they cannot agree on the value of the property for a potential buy out by one family member from another family member.

By listing the property for sale you determine the true market value of the property but if a family member is trying to buy another family member out of the property they likely will not want to test the market. This is where appraisers come in. An appraiser can give you their opinion of the fair market value of the property which can then serve as the foundation for a settlement or buy out.

5. Consult A Partition Attorney

This may seem like a plug but the reality is that consulting an attorney is an important part of protecting your rights. Our experienced attorneys have handled countless partition actions, and can help you understand your property rights and responsibility. By knowing what the law will provide and combining that with experience about what judges have done in the past the attorneys can help you find areas of compromise and areas to hold firm.

At Schorr Law, our Los Angeles-based Partition Attorneys are constantly litigating partition actions with great success. At any given moment in time we are in the process of partitioning real property throughout the State of California. Our experience includes rural property, urban property, commercial property, residential property under many varied circumstances. Get a free consultation by calling us.