Title: April 5, 2006
Q. I am one of six owners of a vacant lot. Five of the six are ready to sell. How should we proceed to make this happen?
A. If the sixth party is adamant not to sell his interest, you may need to file an action for partition. A partition is the division among several persons of lands that belong to them as co-owners, either by physically dividing the property into as many portions as there are shares to be distributed among the respective owners, or by selling the property and distribution the proceeds among the owners according to their interest. In the absence of a waiver, a tenant in common or joint tenants has an absolute right to sever his or her interests from those of the cotenants. Partition may be effected wither by voluntary agreement of the co-owners or by judgment in an action undertaken for that purpose. The object is to enable each party to obtain title to and use of some definite portion of the property in severalty. There is no transfer of title; rather, property to which the parties already have title is divided among them. Thus partition transforms the right to common possession of the entire parcel into a right of exclusive possession of some portion of the property held in severalty. Methods of partition are as follows: (1) physical division of the property (2) sale of the property and division of the proceeds (3) partition by appraisal under which any of the parties may acquire the interests of the others at their value as determined in a court-ordered appraisal.
Q. I put my son on the title to my house as joint tenant because I wanted my house to go to him when I die. He got into a car accident and had no insurance. The other driver obtained a judgment against my son because he caused the accident and I fear that a lien is being placed on my residence. What can I do?
A You can do nothing. Adding your children to the title has serious consequences, such as the one you find yourself in. Your son could have inherited the house through a Revocable Living Trust where title to the house transfers to your son at your death and not before. Children sometimes get into trouble and if they are on title, any of their creditors can lien your house, because they own it too. Let it be a lesson to you and remove your son from title as soon as possible, if he assents to it. If he does not want his name to be removed from title, you are stuck.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-
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