Partition
Partition
It is not uncommon in Florida for two or more people to find themselves jointly owning real estate. Maybe you no longer want to have a joint venture with the other person or people. Maybe you inherited a portion of the property and never wanted to jointly own it at all. Maybe one party wants to sell and the other party or parties does not. Regardless of why you no longer want to jointly own property with someone else, you find yourself in the position of having to pay for upkeep on a property you don’t want (or at least don’t want to share).
If you own property with another person (who is not your spouse) either through a joint venture, a relationship that went sour or through inheritance, Florida law gives you the right to force the Property to be sold via a specific type of lawsuit. Florida law has a long history of recognizing a fundamental right of a property owner to sue for Partition. It is unfair for someone to be locked into owning property with someone they don’t want to own property with.
Florida has a mechanism for permitting parties in this position to get out. It is called a “Partition Action”. In short, any joint owner of real property can petition the local court asking them to divide up the property so they don’t have to be a joint owner and can sell their piece. If the Court finds that the property cannot be divided (e.g. - a single family residence) - the Court will order it auctioned off to the highest bidder. If you want the property all to yourself, this gives you a perfect chance to force the other parties to sell to you at a fair price. If you want out, this allows you to get out either by the other party or parties buying your interest or it being sold to a third party at a fair price.
HOW DOES THE PARTITION PROCESS WORK IN FLORIDA?
Partitions are litigated cases where a lawsuit is filed to force the sale or division of Property. The Court will determine whether the Property should be sold or divided and whether the sale occurs at a Public or Private sale. Further in some cases, where the Property is determined to be “heirs property” meaning acquired by family at the same time (typically via inheritance) then the Court must also have a determination of value and allow each party the opportunity to buy out the Property at the determined value. The cases are brought in the county in Florida where the real property is located. Fla. Stat. 64.022.
Most partitions in Florida deal with Property that is not divisible (like a single family home). Sometimes that is not the case and land can be divided. This is called a Partition in Kind. Most cases involve a Partition by sale where the Property is sold.
Generally speaking, the party that initially filed the partition action gets their attorney’s fees paid for out of the sale of the property. In other words, one party’s attorney’s fees are shared by everyone. Because of this it is important to speak to a qualified Florida attorney as soon as you realize one of the joint owners wants out of the arrangement.