Santa Monica Partition Lawyers

The City of Santa Monica was originally founded by Colonal Robert S. Baker, who came to California and purchased the land in 1872. Today, the Santa Monica is a popular resort town with one of the most popular beaches in the world. As a town with rich heritage, residents of Santa Monica often own homes with others due to inheritance, which can lead to disputes with co-owners. Generally, the best Santa Monica Partition Lawyers usually find partition action to be the best remedy for disputing co-owners in four broad categories:

• Split real estate dispute;
• Brother-Sister real estate dispute;
• Investor-Investor real estate dispute; and
• Significant other real estate dispute

Generally, co-owners of property do not consider drafting a partition agreement in advance of purchase the property. If they do, however, such an agreement may become part of the litigation during the partition action. Where a larger parcel of the land is incorporated in the partition rather than in the approved survey that has determined the boundaries of the land, the written agreement of the partition of the land where the boundaries have not been fixed is considered void. (see Emeric v. Alvarado (1884) 64 Cal. 529.) The rule is that no partition may stand when a larger parcel of the property is included in the action than is included in the parcel to be divided. (Id.)

Any one of the co-owners may bring an action in partition to amend any error made by a surveyor that the other co-owners have no knowledge of which resulted in the uneven division of the land, where the co-owners agreed to partition and depended on that surveyor to make an equal division of the land. (see Breen v. Donnelly (1887) 74 Cal. 301.) In the case where there the partition is made upon mutual mistake, the statute of limitations only begins to run at the time the mutual mistake is discovered. (Id.) Once the mistake is discovered, the aggrieved party has three years to bring about the action. (Id.) This rule is enumerated in Code of Civil Procedure section 338.

Where a co-tenant has been occupying the property in accordance with the partition agreement, another co-tenant may use the surveyor's mistake that resulted in the unequal division of the property as a defense against the former in an ejectment action. (see Guedici v. Boots (1871) 42 Cal. 452.) Where there is an error in the property description concerning the right-of-way, the court has the authority to amend the description to be in accordance with the agreement the parties had previously made to reserve the actual right of way across the tract. (see Baucum v. Le Baron, (1955) 136 Cal.App.2d 593.) Where the pleadings raise an issue of the parties' mutual mistake in framing and executing the partition deeds, parol evidence is admissible. (Booth v. Stow (1918) 38 Cal.App. 191.)

At Underwood Law Firm, our Santa Monica Partition Attorneys are well-versed in the legal remedy of partition, and are ready to discuss your legal issues.