Forcing the Sale of Inherited Property
When siblings inherit a house together and one will not sell, California partition law provides the exit. Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210 lets an owner of an inherited interest in co-owned real property bring a partition action, and the court can order the property sold and the proceeds divided.
Who can bring a partition action
Code of Civil Procedure section 872.210 sets out who may commence a partition action: a coowner of personal property, or an owner of an estate of inheritance, an estate for life, or an estate for years in real property where that property or estate is owned by several persons concurrently or in successive estates. An inherited share of a family home is the paradigm case. The statute carves out one exception: an action between spouses or putative spouses for partition of community or quasi-community property may not be brought under this title. Timing decides which body of law applies. While the house is still held by a trust or an unadministered estate, the co-owners do not yet hold the concurrent interests partition depends on, and the dispute belongs in probate: a petition concerning the internal affairs of the trust, or a Probate Code section 850 petition where title itself is contested and the question is whether the property belongs to the estate at all.
Sources: Code of Civil Procedure s.872.210 - Who may bring a partition action · Probate Code s.850 - Petition to determine title and order conveyance · Verified 2026-08-17.
Which court, and which petition
| Where the property sits | The right tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Still a trust asset, trustee will not sell | Prob. Code §17200 petition | The dispute is about administration, not co-ownership |
| Someone else holds title who should not | Prob. Code §850 petition | Determines who owns it before anyone can divide it |
| Distributed, siblings now hold title jointly | Partition, CCP §872.210 | Concurrent owners, one refuses to sell |
What actually happens to the house
Partition in kind — physically dividing land — is the historical default, and it remains available where a parcel can sensibly be split. For a single family home it usually cannot, so the practical outcome is a sale with the proceeds divided according to each owner’s interest. Accountings between co-owners are part of the case: sums one owner paid for the mortgage, taxes, insurance or necessary repairs, and the value of one owner’s exclusive occupation, are addressed when the proceeds are allocated rather than ignored.
The sibling who lives there
The recurring version of this dispute is one child living in the parent’s house, paying nothing, while the others wait. If the property is still in the trust, that is a trustee problem and often a surcharge one, because the trust is losing the rental value. If title has already passed to the children jointly, it is a partition case, and the occupying owner’s use is accounted for in the division rather than treated as an entitlement.
Related: recovering property under §850, contested probate generally, transfers made before death, and what these cases cost.
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How contingency fees work in California
A contingency fee means the attorney is paid from what is recovered rather than by the hour, so a beneficiary who cannot fund litigation out of pocket can still bring a claim. California regulates these agreements closely. Under Business and Professions Code section 6147, the agreement must be in writing and the attorney must give the client a duplicate copy, signed by both, when the contract is made. It must state the agreed contingency rate; how disbursements and costs incurred in prosecuting or settling the claim will affect that fee; and to what extent the client could be required to pay for related matters. Unless the matter falls under section 6146, the agreement must also state that the fee is not set by law and is negotiable. These are not formalities: failure to comply with any provision of section 6147 makes the agreement voidable at the client’s option, leaving the attorney entitled only to a reasonable fee.
Sources: Business and Professions Code s.6147 - Contingency fee contracts · Verified 2026-08-03.
Not every matter suits a contingency arrangement, and the firm does not take every case on one. Whether yours qualifies depends on the facts, the likely recovery, and the assets actually available to satisfy a judgment. Ask when you call.
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