Real Property Law
Cal. Real. Prop. Journal VOLUME 44, ISSUE 2, JULY 2026
Content
- A Declaration of Independence: a Proposal To Break From the Past By Adopting the Standard Partition Act
- 2025-2026 Executive Committee of the Real Property Law Section
- Inside This Issue
- A Yacht Named Change Order: California's Private Works Change Order Fair Payment Act
- Anti-slapp Motions In Real Property Litigation
- Chair Letter
- Editorial Board
- Letter From the Editor
- Permitting the Grid: Power and Preemption In California's Energy Infrastructure
- Proposed Standard Partition Law
- The Italian Real Estate Agent's Role In the Purchasing Property Process and How It Differs From Its American Counterpart
- Update: Courts Make the Case For Adoption of the Uniform Easement Relocation Act
A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: A PROPOSAL TO BREAK FROM THE PAST BY ADOPTING THE STANDARD PARTITION ACT
Written by Eli Underwood*
INTRODUCTION
Almost none of us live on farms anymore. Very little real estate in California is purchased without a mortgage. Very few court sales happen in an auction. Property ownership records are not that hard to locate. California partition law, however, is based on outdated truths from a time when most people lived on farms, the courts sold property only at auctions, and records were hard to access. As times have changed, so should our laws.
Indeed, because the law assumes most of us live on farms, it provides a preference for partition by physical division, even though this has arguably been barred by California’s Subdivision Map Act since 1978. Because the law assumes that records are only accessible from a dusty room at the county recorder’s office after making an appointment, it requires outdated service methodologies. Because the law assumes that most inherited property is owned without a mortgage, it overlooks any provision to address that issue.