Recorded documents decide who pays for a shared driveway. Everything on this page is general information, not legal advice. In a real disagreement, read your deed and any recorded agreement and speak with a California real estate attorney.
Who pays for a shared driveway in California?
The owners who use it pay, in the shares their written agreement gives. A recorded easement or maintenance agreement often fixes the split. If an easement exists with no agreement, California Civil Code section 845 provides that the cost of keeping a private right of way in repair is shared in proportion to each owner's use. Where there is no easement and the driveway is merely two strips side by side on two lots, each owner maintains their own strip unless they agree to something else.
Where do I look for an easement or agreement?
Check your grant deed, the preliminary title report from your purchase and the recorded documents for both parcels. For property in San Bernardino County these are held by the San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk; Riverside addresses are recorded in Riverside County. A title company can run the search, and a survey will show where the boundary crosses the pavement.
The neighbor will not pay. Can I replace only my half?
As a matter of construction, yes. The slab can be sawn on a joint or on the boundary and one half replaced alone. Legally it depends on the paperwork. Where the neighbor holds an easement across your side, you may not shut them out for long and should give written notice of the dates. A fresh half beside an aged half will differ in color and may differ in height, so the seam should be doweled to keep both level. Section 845 also sets out a written demand and court process for recovering a share of easement repair cost; an attorney can say whether it applies to you.
Does the Good Neighbor Fence law apply to a shared driveway?
It does not. That statute concerns boundary fences. Splitting driveway costs rests on easements, recorded agreements and, where an easement exists, Civil Code section 845.
Can a contractor's trucks use a shared driveway?
They can only do what the hiring owner is entitled to do. An access easement for vehicles normally lets your contractor's trucks in and out, yet a full ready-mix truck weighs many times what a car does and can break a residential slab. Warn the neighbor ahead of time. At the estimate we look at the access, and on a light driveway the mixer stays in the street while concrete travels by pump or buggy. Settle in advance who pays for any damage.
What belongs in a written agreement between neighbors?
Put down the cost split, who selects the contractor, the scope and finish, access arrangements while the concrete cures and the rule for later repairs. Both owners sign. To bind future buyers it has to be recorded, which an attorney or title company handles.
- Percentage each owner pays.
- Scope agreed: area, thickness, finish and color.
- Parking plan for the week the driveway is out of use.
- Responsibility if one owner's truck or tree damages it later.
Each owner can have a separate written quote from us for their share. Call (909) 306-5897.