Where property is subject to a lease, community lease, unit agreement, or other pooling arrangement with respect to oil or gas or both, the plaintiff need not join as defendants persons whose only interest in the property is that of a lessee, royalty-owner, lessor-owner of other real property in the community, unit, or pooled area, or working interest owner, or persons claiming under them, and the judgment shall not affect the interests of such persons not joined as defendants.
§ 872.540.Property Subject to Lease, Community Lease, Unit Agreement, Other Pooling Arrangement With Respect to Oil Or Gas
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 2. Commencement of Action · Article 4. Parties · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 872.540 excuses the plaintiff from joining lessees, royalty owners, and similarly situated persons under an oil or gas lease, community lease, unit agreement, or pooling arrangement, and shields their interests from being affected by the judgment when they aren't joined.
Full Text of § 872.540
Plain-English Summary
Oil and gas properties often carry a web of leasehold and royalty interests that would make full joinder impractical. This section responds by excusing the plaintiff from joining, as defendants, anyone whose only interest in the property comes from a lease, community lease, unit agreement, or other pooling arrangement covering oil or gas -- specifically lessees, royalty owners, lessor-owners of other real property within the community, unit, or pooled area, working interest owners, and people claiming under any of them.
The tradeoff protects those unjoined interest holders: the resulting judgment doesn't affect their interests. So the plaintiff can streamline the case by leaving them out, but only at the cost of a judgment that leaves their leasehold, royalty, or working interests untouched.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to join every royalty owner and lessee when the property has an oil or gas lease?
No. Section 872.540 excuses joining persons whose only interest comes from a lease, community lease, unit agreement, or pooling arrangement for oil or gas.
What happens to those unjoined interests if the plaintiff leaves them out?
The judgment doesn't affect the interests of persons not joined as defendants under this section.
Does this exception apply to someone who owns both a fee interest and a royalty interest?
The exception covers a person whose only interest is a leasehold, royalty, working, or similar interest under the lease or pooling arrangement -- someone with a separate ownership interest in the property itself would still fall under § 872.510's general joinder requirement.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 73.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: oil and gas lease partition action californiaroyalty owner joinder partition