South Gate Partition Lawyer

The City of South Gate was originally part of the Lugo Spanish Land Grant and the land was used for cattle raising. It wasn't until 1910 that most of the agricultural land was replaced by housing developments and factories. Today, South Gate is a town with a dense suburban feel, just seven miles from Downtown Los Angeles. South Gate is part of the "Gateway Cities" of Los Angeles County. Many South Gate residents may feel the urge to move away from the busy city to a fresh start with the equity from their property. Jointly owned real estate may cause issues and disputes between co-owners. Generally, a partition action is 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, the rule is that an action for partition between tenants in common is not barred by a lapse of time. Thus, tenants in common are not barred from relief based on the statute of limitations. However, in the case where a defendant disputes that the plaintiff has an ownership interest in the property, and requires the plaintiff to prove that he or she has an interest, the statute of limitations is determined by the cause of action on which the plaintiff claims an ownership interest. (Akley v. Bassett (1922) 189 Cal. 625, 645.) Recently, the California Court of Appeal addressed the statute of limitations and when it begins to run in a case decided by the Second District Court of Appeal known as Missinato v. Missinato (2022) 2022 Cal.App.Unpub. LEXIS 2288.

In that case, a sister used funds lent by her brother to purchase property, and later the brother sued his sister claiming he was a 50% owner of the Property and sought a partition by sale. The brother gave his sister funds to purchase the Property based on an oral agreement that both parties would own the property equally. The sister's name was the only name on the grant deed. A year after purchase, the sister refused to sell the Property and split the proceeds as the brother requested and stated that the Property was all hers. The trial court found the parties to be tenants in common and ordered the Property to be sold. The sister appealed, stating that the suit was time barred.

The Court of Appeal reversed, finding that the statute of limitations for breach of an oral agreement or oral partnership like the one the brother alleged he had with his sister was two years. The brother brought his suit five years after the statute of limitations began to run. Thus, the Appellate Court determined that the brother's claim for such a remedy was barred by the statute of limitations. Further, the brother alleged that a resulting trust was created, which meant the statute of limitations was four years. The Appellate Court noted that "the statute of limitations does not run on a beneficiary of a resulting trust until he has actual knowledge of repudiation or breach of trust." (Missinato, 2022 Cal.App.Unpub LEXIS 2288, at *14.) The Appellate Court determined that the brother's claim for a resulting trust was barred even under the four year statute of limitations as he brought suit five years later.

In order to start resolving these situations, you should contact an experienced South Gate Partition Lawyer as soon as you are ready to start the next chapter of your life.