Notwithstanding Section 872.810, the court shall order that the property be sold and the proceeds be divided among the parties in accordance with their interests in the property as determined in the interlocutory judgment in the following situations:
§ 872.820.Property Ordered Sold and Proceeds Divided Among Parties
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 3. Trial · Article 3. Determination of Manner of Partition · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 872.820 requires the court to order the property sold and the proceeds divided according to the parties' determined interests, instead of physically dividing it, whenever the parties agree to that relief or the court finds sale would be more equitable, aided if needed by a referee's report.
Full Text of § 872.820
(a) The parties agree to such relief, by their pleadings or otherwise.
(b) The court determines that, under the circumstances, sale and division of the proceeds would be more equitable than division of the property. For the purpose of making the determination, the court may appoint a referee and take into account his report.
Plain-English Summary
This section supplies the two situations that override § 872.810's default of physical division. Subdivision (a) is the simpler one: if the parties agree to a sale, whether through their pleadings or otherwise, the court orders the property sold and the proceeds divided according to the interests already determined in the interlocutory judgment.
Subdivision (b) covers disagreement: even without party agreement, the court can order a sale if it determines that, under the circumstances, selling the property and dividing the proceeds would be more equitable than physically dividing it. Some properties don't divide well -- a single-family home can't be split into equal, independently usable pieces the way raw acreage sometimes can. To help make that equitable determination, the court may appoint a referee and take the referee's report into account.
Either path leads to the same result: cash divided according to each party's fixed share, rather than a fragmented physical division that might leave everyone worse off.
Frequently Asked Questions
If all the co-owners agree to sell the property, does the court have to order a sale?
Yes. Section 872.820(a) requires the court to order sale and division of proceeds when the parties agree to that relief.
Can the court order a sale even if the parties disagree?
Yes, under subdivision (b), if the court determines that sale and division of proceeds would be more equitable than dividing the property itself.
Does the court get help deciding whether a sale is more equitable than division?
It can appoint a referee for that purpose and take the referee's report into account.
What happens to the sale proceeds?
They're divided among the parties according to their interests in the property as already determined in the interlocutory judgment.
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
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