Redding Partition Lawyers

Redding, the cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region in Northern California, is renowned for being the “Trail Capital” of the state, having more than 100 miles of trails. Given its size and outdoor appeal, Redding is a family community where residents jointly own their homes. Unfortunately, a Redding Partition Lawyer knows that co-owners of houses are not immune to disagreements. When those disagreements become irreconcilable, and separation is the only viable option between co-owners, partitioning the jointly owned home is often the best remedy.

Redding Partition Attorneys usually find partition actions to be the best remedy for joint owners in disputes in four broad categories:

• Parent-Child shared tenants in common in real estate;
• Brother-Sister shared tenants in common in real estate;
• Investor-Investor shared tenants in common in real estate; and
• Significant others shared tenants in common in real estate;

Although partition in kind, or physical partition, is the legally preferred manner of partition in a judicial action, Redding Partition Attorneys know that in modern times, partition by sale is the preferred method of partition by joint owners of property since the value of divided parcels usually does not equal the value of the whole parcel before the partition. The court will only order that the property be sold and the proceeds divided among the parties in accordance with their interests in the property in two circumstances: (1) the parties agree to such relief by their pleadings, or (2) the court determines that under the circumstances, sale and division of the proceeds would be more equitable than the division of the property. (Code Civ. Proc § 872.820.) In determining such, the court will consider the character and location of the property as evidence if the court can infer that partition in kind is not appropriate from it. Sometimes, the division may be highly impractical or impossible due to zoning restrictions.

When parties do not agree on a partition by sale, a Redding Partition Lawyer is invaluable to the party wanting to force the sale. The burden to prove that the given circumstances are not proper for a partition in kind is placed on the party who wants to force a sale. Two types of evidence are sufficient to justify a partition by sale of the property. The first is evidence that property division into sub-parcels of equal value cannot be made. To satisfy this test, the party desiring the partition by sale must show that the land cannot be divided equally. The second type of evidence is economic evidence that shows the division of the land would substantially diminish the value of each party's interest, such as where it appears that the aggregate value of the separate parcels after a division in kind would be less than the value of the property as a whole before division. (See Butte Creek Island Ranch v. Crim (1982) 136 cal.App.3d 360, 365-367.)

At the Underwood Law Firm, our Redding Partition Attorneys are well-versed in the legal remedy of partition and its necessary steps. They are ready to help you with any of your partition needs.