What is a Partition Action?

A partition is a court ordered sale of jointly owned property. A Partition Action is a lawsuit asking the court to order such a sale. Partition actions are common where a parent dies and leaves property to two or more siblings.  One wants to sell, one wants to keep, and they cannot agree. Another common example is when a couple who lives together but aren’t legally married buy property together and when their relationship ends, one partner may wish to sell the property.    The one that wishes to sell brings a partition action asking the court to order a sale so the proceeds can be fairly divided.