What should be done when two or more owners of real estate disagree on what to do with a property? Properties subject to a marital divorce or a deceased’s will are resolved through divorce court and orphan’s court respectively. But there are many other situations where co-owners cannot agree on the use of a property.
Here are some common examples:
- co-investors/ developers who jointly purchased a property but now disagree on whether to rent or sell
- inheritance property that was re-titled in the name of the heirs but the heirs disagree years later on how to use it
- a property purchased by two people anticipating marriage but the relationship ended before marriage
- former spouses who kept a property jointly-titled after divorce but later disagreed on its use
Any person who co-owns property with another person has a right to have the property partitioned through the court. Partition can mean a physical dividing, or more often, selling the property and distributing the proceeds. A physical division is not appropriate for most properties. Imagine what would happen if the court ordered the division of a one-acre lot containing a single family home. For this reason, courts often order liquidation except for properties like large tracts of vacant land.
How exactly to divide the proceeds is the more difficult part.
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