Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

First, the legal fees that are subject to statutory sharing at the conclusion of a partition action are rather limited. 874.010(a) calls for apportionment of attorney fees "incurred or paid by a party for the common benefit." This may mean that if A, B and C are co-plaintiffs and X, Y and Z are co-defendants, and A pays all the legal bills for a successful partition action, that A can recollect some of the fees from B and C. The court will take a much narrower view of what is "the common benefit" if A tries to get contribution from X, Y and/or Z.

Next, and perhaps more important, when a lawsuit is settled out of court, it is the express terms of the settlement agreement that govern the parties' rights, not the statutes governing procedure in a court case. If the settlement agreement makes no mention of one party reimbursing another party's costs, legal fees, etc., there is probably no basis for a later lawsuit to attempt to recover those items.

Finally, bear in mind that if there were a lawsuit, and it was settled by a written and signed agreement between the parties, then that agreement is probably enforceable as though it were a judgment in the suit. See Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6.

I agree with Mr. Whipple, but point out that the specific section you refer to is Code of Civil Procedure section 874.010. Civil Code sectoin 874 was repealed years ago.

Assuming that you were entitled to apportionment of fees, this would be recovered as an item of costs. This would require a memorandum of costs and a motion for attorneys fees to be awarded at costs, at the conclusion of the litigation. It would not be subject to a separate lawsuit.

You need to review the terms of your settlement agreement carefully. If it states that all parties are to bear their own costs, or costs and attorneys fees, you would not be able to have someone else pay your attorney's fees, or a portion of them.