We have provided free online forms for partition actions that should only be used in conjunction with a partition attorney in California. A California partition action happens when one co-owner of real property wants to sell but other co-owners do not want to sell their ownership rights.A partition action enables you to force the sale of property when coowners are refusing to sell. To initiate a partition action in California, a co-owner must file a lawsuit in the appropriate court and name all other co-owners as defendants. When two or more people own the same property, one of the owners CAN force a sale of the jointly owned property via a partition action or lawsuit.