Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: I'm Defendant in Partition Suit

Any civil litigator can help you respond to these standard discovery requests. You should call the Solano County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service and ask for a real estate attorney or litigator in your area.

Good luck.

Re: I'm Defendant in Partition Suit

My partner practices in Yolo County and we can represent you there. I'm not sure what on title "only" means. If he's on title you should hire an attorney and handle the case correctly before you lose your property to the title holder.

Re: I'm Defendant in Partition Suit

First, as you may know, a partition suit is a special kind of lawsuit by which a co-owner seeks to have the co-owned property divided. In the old days, this meant physical division of a farm or ranch into two or more pieces, hence the name "partition," but in modern times the more usual demand in a partition suit is for the sale of the property under judicial supervision, then division of the net proceeds of sale among the owners.

The split of the money is also subject to fine-tuning by the court or a court-appointed referee, so a 50% owner might get more or less than 50% of the net proceeds if adjustments are warranted due to an owner's greater contribution for necessary costs such as principal payments, maintenance, taxes and insurance. There are some fairly complex rules for such adjustments.

A co-owner's right to partition is pretty well absolute. If the tenants in common or joint tenants can't get along, any one of them can demand partition in court, and partition will usually be granted. The principal defenses are waiver, estoppel and laches. A waiver of the right to partition can be created by a prior agreement, or by an owner having a valid option to buy out the other, and so forth.

I understand that when you say your uncle is "on title only," you mean that he is not in possession, but you and your husband are. The treatment of a co-owner out of possession in a partition suit is pretty similar to the law affecting the co-owner(s) in possession, but there are some small differences; for example, if you had been renting out a room, the uncle might be entitled to a share of the rent.

I practice real estate law in the Bay Area, and now or in the past have handled partition suits for both plaintiffs and defendants in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties. Last year I handled a franchise dispute in the Fairfield courthouse, and I can timely assist you in this matter for a modest retainer and hourly fee.

By the way, your response dates for the summons and complaint and the discovery are or were different. Is 6/29 the date for filing your answer or other responsive pleading, or the date the discovery replies are due? Be certain not to miss the summons response date!

Re: I'm Defendant in Partition Suit

We can help you respond to discovery and maybe assist is resolving the case. Please call me if you need further assistance.