Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Partition is an adversary proceeding (lawsuit) which can follow any of several courses after it is filed and served. These include:

1. The parties settle out of court, before trial, by one buying out the other.

2. The parties settle out of court, before trial, by agreeing to sell on the open market through a voluntary process, including agreeing as to how the net proceeds will be divided.

3. Same as #2, but the parties don't agree on how the proceeds will be split, so they agree to submit division of the proceeds to binding arbitration to be conducted after the sale.

4. The court may find that defendant has a defense to the plaintiff's demand for partition. Thisis uncommonas thereare few defenses.

5. The case may go through the entire process, including trialfor an interlocutory judgment ordering partition by sale, then further post-sale proceedings to determine the proper division of the proceeds.

In my experience, #3 would typically cost the plaintiff around $15,000 in fees and costs. #1 and #2 would vary from a lot less to somewhat more, depending upon when the out-of-court settlement was reached. #4, less than #3. #5, probably over $25K.

Asking how much a lawsuit will cost is sort of like asking "How long is a piece of string?" It depends upon the other side's willingness to fight, complexity of the issues, and more.