When the interests of all parties are undisputed or have been adjudicated, the parties may agree upon a partition by appraisal pursuant to this chapter.
§ 873.910.Agreement of Parties
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 7. Partition by Appraisal · Enacted 1976 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 873.910 opens Chapter 7's partition-by-appraisal alternative, letting the parties to a partition action agree to have the property appraised and bought out among themselves instead of having the court divide or sell it, but only once every party's interest is undisputed or has already been decided by the court.
Full Text of § 873.910
Plain-English Summary
Most partition actions end with the court either dividing the property among the owners or ordering it sold. Chapter 7 offers a third path: the parties themselves agree to have the property appraised and let one or more co-owners buy out the rest at that appraised value. Section 873.910 is the doorway into that path.
The condition is narrow. This route only opens once every party's interest in the property is either undisputed or has already been adjudicated by the court. Nothing here forces anyone into an appraisal-based buyout — it works only by agreement, and the agreement itself has to meet the requirements § 873.920 lays out and win court approval under § 873.930.
Choosing this path doesn't lock the parties in forever. Section 873.980 makes the whole chapter cumulative, so if the appraisal process falls apart, the parties can still fall back on the ordinary division and sale remedies covered elsewhere in this title.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can parties use partition by appraisal instead of a court-ordered sale or division?
Only once the interests of all the parties are undisputed or have already been adjudicated by the court.
Is partition by appraisal mandatory in a partition action?
No. It requires the parties' own agreement, filed with the court and meeting the requirements of § 873.920.
What has to happen before an appraisal-based buyout can go forward?
If the parties choose this path but it doesn't work out, do they lose their other partition remedies?
No. Section 873.980 makes this chapter's remedy cumulative with the ordinary partition remedies.
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: partition by appraisal californiabuyout co-owner partition californiaappraisal agreement partition action california