Partition is a legal action in which a co-owner of real property files a lawsuit in order to obtain a court order forcing one or more of the following:

• Sale of the real estate

• Division of the property, and/or

• Division of the profits from the property.

Generally, a partition order by the court provides for an appraisal of the property which establishes either the sale price of the property or the price at which one co-owner can purchase the interest of another co-owner.

Partition suits or actions rarely result in court trials. Partition suits usually result in forcing the co-owners to either voluntarily sell the property or work out a purchase sale between them.

Partition actions are most common in the following situations:

• Property is inherited by people having different objectives. One wants to sell while the other wants to retain the property

• Partnership disputes including Palimony-Marvin Claims

• Corporate dissolutions

• Destruction of a condominium building or other co-owned building (by fire, earthquake, landslide, mudslide, or otherwise) where the issue of reconstruction is at issue.