The amount of agents' commissions on the sale, if any, shall be fixed by the court and divided or limited in the manner provided for private sales of real property in decedents' estates.
§ 873.745.Amount of Agents' Commissions
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 6. Sale of the Property · Article 3. Consummation of Sale · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 873.745 has the court fix the amount of any agents' commissions on a partition sale and divide or limit them the same way commissions are handled for private sales of real property in decedents' estates.
Full Text of § 873.745
Plain-English Summary
This section takes the question of agents' commissions out of purely private negotiation. The amount of agents' commissions on the sale, if any, is fixed by the court rather than left entirely to agreement between the referee and the agent.
Rather than creating a new standard from scratch, the statute borrows one already in use: the commissions are divided or limited in the manner provided for private sales of real property in decedents' estates, applying a familiar framework to the partition sale context.
How commissions are fixed and treated has real downstream effects. It feeds into the disclosure the referee's report must make under § 873.710(b)(6), and it shapes the gross-versus-net computation § 873.740 uses when a competing written offer comes in at the confirmation hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides how much an agent gets paid in commission on a partition sale?
The court fixes that amount.
What standard does the court use to fix the commission?
The same standard used for private sales of real property in decedents' estates.
Why does this matter for an increased offer at the confirmation hearing?
Because § 873.740's gross-versus-net computation rule for a competing written offer depends on how any commission is treated.
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: agent commission partition sale california