Temecula Partition Lawyers

Temecula is a well-known resort destination due to its wine country and its famous Balloon and Wine Festival. Although a popular tourist city, Temecula is a residential community where many homes are jointly owned. A Temecula Partition Lawyer is aware that plans do not always go as expected, and co-owners of property may choose to take different paths, ultimately splitting. In these scenarios, a partition action may be the most suitable remedy for a co-owner dealing with another problematic co-owner.

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

• Girlfriend-Boyfriend 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
• Parent-Child shared tenants in common in real estate;

After filing a complaint and serving a summons on the adverse parties, the court will determine whether the petitioner is entitled to a partition. Generally, this right is absolute for any person with any interest in a shared property. After the court decides that the plaintiff is, in fact, entitled to partition, it will make an interlocutory judgment that (1) determines the interests of the parties in the property and (2) will order the partition of the property and the manner of partition. (Code Civ. Proc. § 872.720(a).)

The purpose of the interlocutory judgment is to permit the trial court to determine the matters that have been presented to it upon the evidence without needing a referee to oversee the partition. As one court stated, “The word ‘shall’... should not be so strictly construed as to require the expense and time-consuming services of a referee where the court has adequate evidence before it to render its decision. The function of the interlocutory judgment is to permit the trial court to determine those matters which have been presented to it for determination, and which it can determine upon the evidence submitted to it without the necessity of a referee.” (Richmond v. Dofflemyer (1980) 105 Cal.App.3d 745.) However, a knowledgeable Temecula Partition Lawyer knows that such an interlocutory judgment is appealable under the California Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1(a)(8). It is vital to appeal, or motion for a new trial before an interlocutory judgment for partition becomes final since it may not be amended.

Further, a court may determine that it is impracticable or highly inconvenient to make a single interlocutory judgment that determines the interest of all parties in the property at the first instance and will make multiple interlocutory judgments instead. A Temecula Partition Lawyer can explain the process. The court may first ascertain the interests of the original concurrent or successive owners and make an interlocutory judgment as if the original owners were the only parties with interest in the action. After, the court may proceed, in the same manner, as between the original concurrent or successive owners and the parties claiming under them or may allow the interest to remain without any further partition if the parties wish. (See Richmond, 105 Cal.App.3d 745.)

At the Underwood Law Firm, our Temecula Partition Attorneys are well versed in the legal remedy of partition and are ready to assist you.