STONE LLP
Century City & Los Angeles

Century City & Los Angeles Partition Attorneys | Beverly Hills & Santa Monica

By Elliott H. Stone, Managing Partner, Stone LLP · Updated September 3, 2026

Call 949-477-9100

If you co-own real property in Los Angeles, a Beverly Hills or Santa Monica home, a Westside condo, or a multi-unit property held with family or business partners, and a co-owner won’t agree to sell, California law generally lets you force a sale or division through a partition action filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Stone LLP handles partition actions throughout the Los Angeles area from our Century City office.

Los Angeles co-ownership disputes are often layered with complicated history: a Beverly Hills or Santa Monica home held in a family trust for decades, with adult children now disagreeing about whether to sell; an entertainment- industry or business partnership that bought Westside real estate together and has since fallen apart; or an unmarried couple who purchased a Century City-area condo and split up without ever addressing what happens to the property.

Because Los Angeles real property values are high, the accounting phase of these cases, who paid the mortgage, who lived in the property rent-free, who covered the property taxes and insurance, often has more financial consequence than the litigation over whether a sale happens at all.

How a Partition Action Works

In California, the right to partition is close to absolute, any co-owner can generally force a sale or division of jointly owned property without the other owners’ consent, through a court process that accounts for each co-owner’s financial contributions before dividing the proceeds. For the full four-stage process, the accounting rules, and how to stop or narrow a case, see our main guide, Partition Actions in California. Partition actions involving Los Angeles County real property, including Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, are generally filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, with venue proper in the county where the property is located. Stone LLP’s Century City office is positioned to handle filings and appearances throughout the Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and the greater Westside.

For the full walkthrough of how a California partition action works, including the four stages, the accounting rules, and the limited ways to stop one, see our main guide, Partition Actions in California. Matters in this area are handled from our Century City (Los Angeles) office.

Frequently asked questions

My co-owner and I disagree about selling our Beverly Hills or Santa Monica property, what are my options?

Before litigation, it is worth checking whether any written agreement between the co-owners addresses a sale, buyout, or right of first refusal. Absent an enforceable agreement to the contrary, any co-owner generally has an absolute right to force a sale through a partition action, and the process does not require the other owner’s consent.

We inherited a family home in the Los Angeles area and my siblings won’t agree on selling, what happens?

This is one of the most common partition scenarios in Los Angeles. If the property qualifies as "heirs property" under the Partition of Real Property Act, the court must determine fair market value by independent appraisal and give non-filing family co-owners a right to buy out the filing owner’s interest before an open-market sale is ordered.

Does it matter that our property is in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica specifically rather than another part of LA County?

The partition statute applies the same way regardless of neighborhood, the case is filed and litigated in Los Angeles County Superior Court based on where the property sits. What tends to differ by neighborhood is the scale of the numbers involved in the accounting and valuation disputes, which is why getting the financial history organized early matters even more in higher-value Westside properties.

This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Partition matters turn on title, the governing documents, and the specific facts. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page.

Talk to Stone LLP about a co-ownership dispute

Partition matters turn on title, the governing documents, and the specific facts. A short conversation can tell you where you stand.

Call 949-477-9100Request a consultation
Call 949-477-9100