STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
SENATE, No. 860
with Senate Floor Amendments
(Proposed by Senator SINGLETON)
ADOPTED: DECEMBER 11, 2023
These floor amendments make several changes to the bill
concerning procedures in the action to partition real property.
The amendments provide that the court, in determining whether
the property is heirs property, would rely on information contained in
the pleadings, or any other information provided to the court pursuant
to the Rules of Court. Under the amendments, if the court determines
that the property is heirs property, the court would appoint a special
master and may, when appropriate, appoint a commissioner or
commissioners to partition the property unless all of the cotenants
otherwise agree in writing.
The amendments also provide that if the court determines that the
property may be heirs property, the court would order the plaintiff to
post, and maintain while the action is pending, a conspicuous notice on
the property that is the subject of the action in accordance with the
Rules of Court.
Prior to the floor amendments, the bill had provided that after a
party sends written
notice of a request for partition by sale, a
cotenant intending to buy all of the interests of the cotenants would be
required to send written notice to the parties and special master within
30 days that it elects to buy all of the interests of the cotenants that
requested partition by sale. The amendments change the 30-day
deadline to 45 days.
The floor amendments also provide that a sale may occur only
after the purchase prices for all interests subject to sale have been
paid into the Superior Court Trust Fund and those interests have been
reallocated among the cotenants. Any funds deposited into the Trust
Fund would be distributed in accordance with the procedures set forth
in the Rules of Court.