Pompano Beach Partition Action Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents co-owners of real estate in Pompano Beach and across Broward County who can no longer agree on what to do with a shared property. Our work includes former business partners holding an investment property, siblings who inherited a house together, unmarried couples whose relationship ended, and investors who want out of a joint purchase. When co-owners are stuck, a Pompano Beach partition action attorney can ask the court to break the stalemate.

Co-ownership works until it doesn’t. One owner wants to sell, another wants to keep the property, a third stopped paying the taxes and insurance two years ago. Florida law does not force anyone to stay locked into a shared title. Any co-owner can file a partition case, and the court will either divide the land or order it sold with the proceeds split by ownership share.

The right strategy depends on facts that are easy to overlook: how title is actually held, whether there is a written agreement between the owners, who has been paying what, and whether the property is the kind of inherited holding that triggers special protections. Getting those answers early shapes everything that follows.

How a Florida Partition Case Moves From Complaint to Sale

Partition actions in Florida are equitable proceedings governed by Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes, and they are heard in the circuit court. The complaint has to describe the land, identify each owner and where each lives, and state what share each one holds. Those details drive the case, so errors in the title picture at the start cause delays later.

Once the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, either by agreement of the parties or by its own selection. The commissioners study whether the property can be physically divided fairly. For a single-family home, a condominium unit, or a small commercial building, the honest answer is usually no. When the commissioners report that division would prejudice the owners and the court agrees, the court can order the property sold at public auction to the highest bidder, with the proceeds divided in proportion to each owner’s interest.

The court may also permit a sale on credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless every party consents to different terms. In practice, many partition cases never reach auction. Once the court’s authority to force a sale is clear, owners often negotiate a buyout, a private sale on better terms, or an agreed division of the property.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Partition and Title Disputes

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of business and real estate litigation experience in state and federal courts.

Partition cases often grow out of broken business relationships, which is the core of what this firm does: business divorce, partner and member disputes, contract litigation, and real estate litigation. When the co-owner of your Pompano Beach property is also your former partner, the title dispute and the business dispute usually have to be handled together. We serve clients in Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own South Florida property.

Real estate results matter here. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment granting our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. We try real estate cases, we do not only negotiate them.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on your matter knows the file. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy, handle local court appearances for out of state owners, and are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation. We look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

Situations That Lead Pompano Beach Owners to File for Partition

• Inherited Property Among Siblings or Relatives: A parent dies and leaves a house to several children as tenants in common. One wants cash, one wants to live there, one has stopped responding. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, found in Part II of Chapter 64, applies when relatives hold interests in this way and imposes added protections before a forced sale.
• Former Business Partners Holding Investment Real Estate: Partners bought a rental building or development parcel through an entity or as individuals, then the business relationship collapsed. The property is the last asset tying them together, and neither will agree on a price or a buyer.
• Unmarried Couples Who Bought Together: When there is no divorce court to divide assets, the deed controls. A partition action is often the only way to force a resolution when one partner refuses to sell or buy out the other.
• Investors Who Want Out of a Shared Purchase: Co-investors in a condo, duplex, or commercial space sometimes reach different conclusions about when to sell. A partition suit can end an indefinite hold that one owner never agreed to.
• A Co-Owner Who Stopped Paying: Taxes, insurance, mortgage payments, and repairs fall on whoever keeps paying. Those contributions can become credits in the partition accounting, so documenting them matters.
• A Co-Owner in Exclusive Possession: One owner lives in or controls the property and refuses to share it, rent it, or sell. Partition ends that arrangement and gives the court the power to sort out any rent or use value owed to the others.
• Competing Claims to Title: Sometimes the first question is not how to divide the property but who owns it. Quiet title actions under Chapter 65 let a court determine ownership, cancel a conveyance that clouds title, and remove a claim from someone who is not the rightful owner.
• Out of State Owners: Clients in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut who hold a share of a South Florida property can pursue or defend a partition case without being present for every hearing.

What to Do If You Co-Own Property and the Relationship Has Broken Down

Start by pulling together the deed and every document that shows how title is held. Whether owners hold as tenants in common, joint tenants, or through an LLC changes the legal path. If a company holds title, check the operating agreement for buyout or deadlock provisions, because those may control before a court ever gets involved.

Next, gather the money trail. Closing statements, mortgage records, property tax payments, insurance bills, receipts for repairs and improvements, and any rent collected should be organized by date and by who paid. Courts in partition cases look at contributions and credits when dividing sale proceeds, and owners who kept careful records have a real advantage.

Put your position in writing before anyone files. A clear written offer to buy out the other owner or to sell the property jointly shows reasonableness and can narrow the dispute. Do not change the locks, remove a co-owner’s belongings, or stop paying carrying costs out of frustration. Those moves create claims against you and hand the other side leverage.

Partition cases in Broward County are filed in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and an action may be filed in any county where part of the land sits. For Pompano Beach properties, that means Broward County. When a partition case is entangled with a business dissolution or large commercial dispute, the Seventeenth Circuit has a complex business division that handles dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation, and a case can be directed there only through the procedure set out in the circuit’s administrative order. Which path fits your case is something to work out with counsel before filing.

Raise any need for emergency protection early. If a co-owner is trying to encumber, transfer, or strip the property while the case is pending, a temporary injunction may be available, and our attorneys regularly seek early and emergency injunctive relief to protect real property and company assets.

When the Dispute Is Really About Title or the Business Behind It

Not every shared-property fight is a clean partition. Some begin with a clouded title, an old conveyance nobody can explain, or a claim by someone who is not on the deed. Florida’s quiet title statute gives circuit courts jurisdiction over actions by anyone claiming legal or equitable title, and over cases where multiple people claim the same land under a common title. A plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, so the records work is not optional.

Possession claims are a separate issue. A person asserting adverse possession without color of title must show actual, continued possession for seven years under a claim of title exclusive of any other right, and must file a return with the property appraiser that includes a full legal description. Co-owners have a harder time proving the exclusivity that adverse possession requires, which is one reason these claims rarely succeed between people who share a deed.

Where the property sits inside an LLC or corporation, partition may be the wrong tool. A member of an LLC can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include management deadlock with threatened irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, or the impracticability of carrying on under the operating agreement. In a corporation, shareholders have parallel remedies, including the ability of the company or other shareholders to elect to buy out a petitioning shareholder at fair value. If the agreement contains a deadlock sale provision, that mechanism may take priority. Choosing between partition, dissolution, a buyout, or a negotiated exit is a strategic decision, and it is better made before a complaint is drafted than after.

Partition Action Questions From Pompano Beach Property Owners

Can one co-owner force the sale of a property in Florida?

Yes. Any co-owner can file a partition action, and the court can divide the property or order it sold when division is not practical. A co-owner generally cannot be required to remain in shared ownership indefinitely.

What is the difference between partition in kind and partition by sale?

Partition in kind physically divides the land among the owners. Partition by sale converts the property to cash, with proceeds split in proportion to ownership. Houses, condos, and small commercial buildings usually cannot be divided fairly, so sale is the common result.

Who decides whether the property can be divided?

After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners, either agreed by the parties or selected by the court. They report on whether the property can be divided without prejudice to the owners, and the court acts on that report.

Does a partition sale have to be an auction?

The statute contemplates a public sale to the highest bidder, but many cases resolve before that point through a buyout or an agreed private sale. A court can also allow a sale on credit for good cause, with at least one-third of the price paid down unless all parties agree to other terms.

What is heirs property, and does it change the process?

Heirs property is real property held in a tenancy in common where there is no binding agreement among all owners about partition, at least one owner acquired title from a relative, and another statutory condition is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. When it applies, Part II of Chapter 64 governs and adds safeguards, including a requirement that partition in kind not be rejected without the commissioners considering specific factors.

Can a co-owner who paid more of the expenses get that money back?

Often, yes. Courts account for contributions toward taxes, insurance, mortgage payments, and improvements when distributing sale proceeds. Records matter, so keep receipts and bank statements showing who paid what and when.

What if my co-owner is living in the property and refuses to leave or pay rent?

That is a common fact pattern. The partition court has equitable power to address it, and the accounting between owners can include credits for exclusive use. Where the occupant is a tenant rather than an owner, the landlord-tenant statutes and their notice requirements are a separate track.

How is a partition case different from a quiet title action?

Partition divides or sells property among people who agree they co-own it. A quiet title action determines who owns it, or removes a claim that clouds title. Some disputes need both, with ownership settled first and partition following.

Can I file a partition case if I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut?

Yes. A complaint may be filed in the county where the land sits, which for a Pompano Beach property is Broward County. We regularly represent out of state owners, handle the Florida court proceedings, and keep clients informed so they do not have to travel for each hearing.

Is there a deadline to file a partition action?

There is no short limitations period that cuts off a co-owner’s right to seek partition while the co-tenancy continues. Related claims have their own clocks. A claim on a written contract, such as a co-ownership or operating agreement, carries a five-year period, an oral agreement carries four years, and a specific performance action carries one year. Waiting can also make records harder to reconstruct.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the property value is modest?

Often yes, because the cost of an unresolved co-ownership, including taxes, insurance, and lost use, accumulates. Many partition disputes resolve through negotiation or mediation, and our attorneys focus on the path that fits your goals and budget rather than escalating for its own sake.

Do other attorneys refer partition cases to your firm?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from referrals by other lawyers, including out of state attorneys whose clients have Florida real estate disputes and Florida attorneys who do not handle business or real estate litigation. We communicate with referring counsel throughout and respect their relationship with the client.

Serving Partition Clients in Pompano Beach and Throughout Broward County

Our work for Pompano Beach owners extends from the Pompano Beach waterfront and the Intracoastal neighborhoods through Old Pompano, Cresthaven, Palm Aire, and the communities along Atlantic Boulevard and Federal Highway. We also represent co-owners in neighboring Lighthouse Point, Hillsboro Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, Coral Springs, Parkland, and Oakland Park.

Across Broward County, we serve clients in Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Davie, Weston, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, and Miramar. Our reach also runs north into Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold interests in South Florida property work with us throughout the process.

Talk With a Pompano Beach Partition Lawyer Before the Dispute Hardens

Co-ownership disputes rarely get easier with time. Carrying costs keep running, positions harden, and records get harder to find. If you hold a share of a property with someone you can no longer work with, speaking early with a Pompano Beach partition lawyer can clarify whether you should negotiate a buyout, seek a court-ordered sale, or resolve a title or business question first.

Contact the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to discuss your situation. We will review how title is held, what the numbers look like, and which route fits your goals, and we will answer your call and return messages within 24 hours.