Judge: Linda S. Marks, Case: 2021-01229769, Date: 2022-12-12 Tentative Ruling

Motion for Interlocutory Judgment and Appointment of Referee filed by Darnell Thompson on 8/8/22

This motion is premature. Defendants’ First Amended Cross-Complaint asserts a cause of action for Quiet Title in connection with the subject property. That claim has not yet been adjudicated. Before the court can order the manner of a property’s partition, as Plaintiff requests the court to do in its motion, the court must first determine the ownership interests in the property. (Summers v. Superior Court (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 138, 140).

Further, the statutes authorizing an interlocutory judgment for partition provide that “[a]t the trial, the court shall determine whether the plaintiff has the right to partition.” (CCP §872.710(a) (emphasis added)). Thereafter, “[i]f the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to partition, it shall make an interlocutory judgment that determines the interests of the parties in the property and orders the partition of the property and, unless it is to be later determined, the manner of partition.” (CCP §872.720(a)).

Here, there has been no trial on the right to partition. Nor has Plaintiff brought a Motion for Summary Judgment to address the same. Plaintiff cites no authority which permits a determination of the right to partition outside the context of the above proceedings.

Tentative Ruling: Plaintiff Darnell Thompson’s Motion for Interlocutory Judgment and Appointment of Referee to Sell the Property is DENIED.