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
• 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.