When Heirs Can't Agree on Selling the House

While the Estate or Trust Is Still Open

If the house is still in a probate estate, a sale under full independent authority needs a Notice of Proposed Action, and an heir entitled to that notice who delivers a written objection in time sends the sale into court supervision. In a court-confirmed sale, any interested person may file written objections at or before the confirmation hearing.

If the house is in a trust, every use of the trustee's powers, including the power to sell, is subject to the trustee's fiduciary duties, and a trustee or beneficiary can petition the court about the trust's internal affairs. A California attorney can explain how an objection or petition would work in your family's estate or trust.

How the Heirs Hold Title Matters

Under California's general ownership rule, an interest created in favor of several people is an interest in common, a tenancy in common, unless it is acquired as a partnership, declared to be a joint tenancy, or acquired as community property. A California attorney can review the deed or court order that transferred the house to see which form of ownership applies.

Ways Co-Owners Settle It, With or Without a Lawsuit

The partition statutes leave room for agreement: under the general statute the parties can agree to a sale, and under the Partition of Real Property Act, co-owners who agree on a value or a way to set it get that value adopted by the court. A valid waiver can bar partition altogether, and an agreement in a record that binds all co-owners and governs partition keeps the property outside the Act.

Mediation is another route the courts describe: a neutral mediator helps both sides communicate and try to reach a solution both can accept, and the mediator does not decide the dispute. Inside a case under the Act, co-owners who did not ask for a sale also get the first chance to buy out those who did, at a court-determined price. Which of these is open to your family depends on the title and any agreements, and a California attorney can explain them.

How a California Partition Action Works

Partition actions fall under the Code of Civil Procedure, beginning at section 872.010: an owner of an interest in real property held by several people at the same time can bring one, and partition is a matter of right unless a valid waiver bars it.

Under the general statute, the court orders the property divided among the owners according to their interests unless the parties agree to a sale or the court finds that selling and dividing the proceeds would be more equitable, and it may sell part of the property and divide the rest.

The costs of partition, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred for the common benefit, referee's fees and title report costs, are generally divided among the parties in proportion to their interests or in another way the court finds equitable. A California attorney can explain what a partition case would involve for your property.

The Partition of Real Property Act (Formerly the Heirs Property Act)

California first adopted these procedures as the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (AB 633, effective January 1, 2022), limited to heirs property; AB 2245 in 2022 renamed it the Partition of Real Property Act and expanded it to any real property held in tenancy in common. It applies to partition actions filed on or after January 1, 2023 involving tenancy-in-common property where no agreement in a record binding all co-owners governs partition, unless all co-owners agree otherwise in a record.

Its main steps, in order:

• Filing: a co-owner who files and asks to serve notice by publication must post and keep a conspicuous sign on the property announcing the case, within 10 days after the court's determination.
• Value: the court determines the property's fair market value, usually by appointing a disinterested California real estate appraiser, unless all co-owners agree on a value or a method or the court finds an appraisal's cost outweighs its usefulness; parties get notice and 30 days to object before a hearing.
• Buyout window: if any co-owner asks for partition by sale, the court notifies the parties that the co-owners who did not ask for a sale may buy all the interests of those who did, and they have 45 days after that notice to elect.
• Buyout price: each selling co-owner's interest is priced at the court-determined value of the whole parcel times that co-owner's fractional share, and electing buyers pay into court by a date set at least 60 days after the court's notice.
• Division first: if the buyout does not resolve the case, the court orders partition in kind unless, after weighing the statutory factors, it finds that dividing the property would cause great prejudice to the co-owners as a group; then it orders a sale, or dismisses the case if no co-owner asked for one.
• The factors: whether the property can practicably be divided, whether division would materially reduce its total value, how long the family has owned it, a co-owner's sentimental or ancestral attachment, its current lawful use, and each co-owner's share of taxes, insurance and upkeep, with no single factor decisive.
• Sale: a court-ordered sale is an open-market sale through a real estate broker the parties choose within 10 days or the court appoints, at a price no lower than the court-determined value, unless the court finds sealed bids or an auction more economically advantageous.
• No qualifying offer: if no offer at or above that value comes in within a reasonable time, the court may, after a hearing, approve the largest outstanding offer, redetermine the value and keep the property on the market, or order sealed bids or an auction; a qualifying offer must be reported to the court within seven days.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.

Mediation and Court ADR Programs

In general civil cases, each California superior court must make an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) information package available to the plaintiff at filing, including information about the court's ADR programs, and the plaintiff must serve it on each defendant. The rule's definition of a general civil case leaves out probate, guardianship, conservatorship, juvenile and family law proceedings, among others.

As of October 2026, Fresno County Superior Court's ADR page says the court has had an ADR Department since 1999 and that a 2006 case management order requires parties in general civil cases to take part in ADR before trial. The same page lists property disputes among those often settled through ADR and describes free or low-cost mediation for self-represented or lower-income parties through a grant-funded partnership with Better Business Bureau Mediation Services.

Merced County Superior Court assigns all unlimited civil cases to its Early Mediation Program, with a $300 program fee and a mediator chosen from the court's panel, unless the parties opt out. Tulare County Superior Court's civil page lists mediation among the most common forms of ADR and posts a court-approved mediator and arbitrator list. A California attorney can tell you whether a court program fits a particular case.

If the Owners Decide Together to Sell

If all the owners decide to sell the whole house, Spark Home Offers is one possible buyer: we buy houses as-is, there are no agent commissions and no fees to work with us, and you choose the closing date. Our offer is free and there's no obligation.

A house still in a probate estate or a trust is sold through that process, by the personal representative or the trustee.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.