As far as practical, and to the extent it can be done without material injury to the rights of the other parties, the property shall be so divided as to allot to a party any portion that embraces improvements made by that party or that party's predecessor in interest. In such division and allotment, the value of such improvements shall be excluded.
§ 873.220.Allotment of Portion of Property Embracing Improvements Made By Party
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 5. Division of the Property · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 873.220 directs the referee, so far as practical and without materially harming the other parties' rights, to allot to a co-owner the portion of the property containing improvements that co-owner or a predecessor built, while excluding the value of those improvements from the accounting of that party's share.
Full Text of § 873.220
Plain-English Summary
A co-owner who built a house, barn, or other improvement on shared land has an obvious stake in keeping that portion of the property. This section protects that interest: as far as practical, and without material injury to the other parties' rights, the referee divides the property so as to allot to a party the portion embracing improvements that party or a predecessor made.
The value-exclusion rule prevents an unfair result on either side. The improving party isn't charged extra value for improvements they themselves paid to build, and the other parties aren't shortchanged by treating the improved portion as worth more than it would otherwise count toward the improving party's proportional share.
Like the rest of this chapter's division rules, this protection has real limits. It applies only so far as practical, and it yields where allotting the improved portion to that party would materially injure the rights of the others — the overall fairness mandate of § 873.210 still governs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a co-owner who built improvements get to keep that part of the property?
Usually, yes — so far as practical and without materially injuring the other parties' rights.
Does the value of those improvements count against that party's share?
No. Section 873.220 excludes the value of the improvements from the division and allotment.
What if allotting the improved portion to that party would hurt someone else's interest?
The referee isn't required to make that allotment where it would cause material injury to the other parties' rights.
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: improvements partition division california