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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.

Client Reviews
★★★★★
“We were in need of a real estate attorney. Eli Underwood provided excellent legal advice and services. He explained everything well and followed through with all important issues that needed attention. We found him to be reliable, courteous, patient and extremely professional. We highly recommend Mr. Underwood without any reservations.” I.S.
★★★★★
"I own a real estate investment company that operates across multiple states (California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and more), whenever I run into an issue that needs legal attention, Eli is my first call. I've been working with him for years. He is an amazing attorney and I highly recommend him." Thank you for your help Sir!" T.W.
★★★★★
"Mr. Underwood is a fantastic Lawyer with extraordinary ethics. He responds quickly, which is rare these days, and he is very knowledgeable in his craft. It was a pleasure working with him and we will definitely use his services in the future if needed. Thank you for your help Sir!" M.O.
★★★★★
"Eli took our case and controlled every hurdle put before us. I one time commented to him that he must love his job because it seemed that he was always available. When talking about my case to anyone I always bring up where, I believe, the other parties Lawyer tried to take advantage of my wife and me. Eli stopped him in his tracks. On top of it being easy to work with Eli, it was a pleasure to have had him represent us. We were in good hands." E.T
★★★★★
"We were in need of an attorney with considerable knowledge of real estate law and the legal issues related to property ownership. Eli Underwood went above and beyond our expectations. In keeping us abreast of our suit, his communication skills were outstanding. This talent was especially demonstrated when dealing with the apposing counsel. We feel this gave us a tremendous advantage over the opposing party that resulted in us reaching a successful outcome. I would highly recommend Eli Underwood as we found him to be an exceptional attorney." P.B.
★★★★★
"In our need for legal services we found Eli to be well informed and on top of our case and our needs. Our's was not an ordinary case as it was a case with many facets. It was a very convoluted case. There were multiple owners involved in a property dispute where one of the owners sued the rest of the owners with a Partition Suit. Needless to say Eli was instrumental in helping us resolve our differences and gained us a profitable sale all with good end results for all. If you hire Eli Underwood you will not be disappointed!" M.A.