South Florida Partition Action Attorney

You own a share of a building, a lot, or a rental property with someone who will not sell, will not buy you out, and will not agree on anything in between. Under Florida law you are not stuck with that arrangement. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents co-owners in a South Florida partition action, handling these cases in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and the surrounding communities, along with out of state owners who hold property here.

A partition case asks a court to end a co-ownership that has stopped working. The court either divides the land physically or orders it sold and splits the money by ownership share. In Florida these are equity cases, and the process is governed by Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes. The outcome turns on details most co-owners never think about until a dispute starts: how title is held, what share each person owns, who has paid the taxes and the mortgage, and whether the property qualifies for special protection as heirs property.

Partition looks simple on paper, but a single filing often opens several related fights at once, including accountings between co-owners, claims for improvements or carrying costs, and sometimes competing claims to title itself. Planning for those side issues at the start is what separates a clean resolution from a drawn-out one.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Partition Litigation

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Palm Beach County, Broward County, and South Florida generally. 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 at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts between partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is exactly the terrain where partition cases tend to arise.

Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone assigned to your matter knows the file, and the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, which matters in partition work because many co-owner disputes settle once both sides see a realistic picture of how a court would handle the property.

On the real estate litigation side, a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That result reflects the kind of detailed, document-driven trial preparation partition and title cases often demand. We also represent clients who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and own property or business interests in South Florida, handling local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing, and we regularly work with referring attorneys on their clients’ Florida matters.

Who Brings and Defends Partition Cases in South Florida

• Former Business Partners: Partners who bought commercial property or a rental building through a company or as individuals often discover, after the business relationship ends, that the real estate is the last thing tying them together. Whether title sits in an entity or in personal names changes the legal route.
• Siblings and Heirs Who Inherited Together: When a parent’s South Florida home passes to several children as co-owners, one may want to sell while another lives there or wants to keep it. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act can apply and gives these owners additional protections before a forced sale.
• Unmarried Couples: Partners who bought a condo or house together without marrying have no divorce court to divide it. Partition is frequently their only formal path when they separate and cannot agree on a buyout.
• Investors Who Want Out: Passive co-investors in a shared property sometimes find themselves locked in with a majority owner who controls decisions and distributions. A partition action can force liquidation or a negotiated exit.
• Owners Facing an Unwanted Filing: Defendants have real options, including seeking a physical division rather than a sale, asserting credits for taxes, insurance, mortgage payments, and improvements, and negotiating a buyout of the plaintiff’s share.
• Co-Owners With Title Problems: If ownership shares are unclear, or someone holds a competing claim, the partition case may need to be paired with a quiet title action so the court can first determine who owns what.
• Out of State Owners: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut residents who hold a vacation property or investment parcel in Palm Beach or Broward County often need local counsel to prosecute or defend the case from afar.

What to Do Before You File or After You Are Served

Start by pulling the deed and any recorded documents showing how title is held, because the form of co-ownership and each owner’s percentage drive nearly everything that follows. Gather mortgage statements, property tax bills, insurance records, and receipts for repairs or improvements, since the court can account for what each owner has contributed and who has benefited from the property. If a business entity holds title, collect the operating or shareholder agreement; it may contain a buy-sell or deadlock provision that changes your options.

Partition actions are filed in circuit court. Palm Beach County cases belong to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, and Broward County cases belong to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Since these cases turn on land, venue is tied to where the property is located. The complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share, along with anything else the court needs to decide the parties’ rights.

If you are served with a partition complaint, do not ignore it, and do not assume the plaintiff’s version of the ownership percentages is correct. Responding on time preserves your ability to contest the claimed shares, ask for a division in kind, and assert credits. A common mistake is moving out, stopping payments, or refusing access in frustration. Those choices can create counterclaims or weaken your position on contribution credits. Another is treating the dispute as purely personal and refusing to discuss a buyout, when a negotiated purchase of one owner’s interest frequently leaves everyone better off than a court-ordered auction.

Before any filing, an attorney can tell you whether a different tool fits better. If a partner is draining company funds, the issue may be a business dispute requiring an accounting or emergency relief; if the problem is a cloud on title, a quiet title action may come first. Getting that sequencing right early saves time and cost.

How a Florida Court Actually Handles a Partition

All partition actions in Florida are equitable proceedings under Chapter 64. After the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on who they should be. The commissioners evaluate whether the property can be divided fairly. If they report that a division cannot be made without prejudice to the owners and the court agrees, the court may order the property sold at public auction to the highest bidder, with the proceeds distributed in proportion to each owner’s interest.

The court can order 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. Because an auction rarely brings the best price, many owners prefer to negotiate a private sale or a buyout before the court reaches that stage, and our attorneys regularly pursue that route when it serves the client’s goals and budget.

Heirs property gets different treatment. Part II of Chapter 64, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. Property qualifies when it is held in a tenancy in common with no binding agreement among all cotenants governing partition, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and further conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. When the property is heirs property, the court must proceed under the Act unless all cotenants agree otherwise in a record. A partition in kind may not be ordered unless commissioners have considered the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. These rules can slow or reshape a forced sale, which makes the early classification of the property critical.

When Partition Overlaps With Title Disputes and Business Breakups

Partition rarely sits alone. When owners disagree about who holds title, Florida’s quiet title statute lets a court determine ownership and cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title that clouds the property. A quiet title complaint may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. Where a fraudulent conveyance is alleged, a quiet title action can proceed under summary procedure with the case advanced on the court’s calendar.

Possession issues can complicate matters too. Florida bars suits to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before filing, and adverse possession claims generally require seven years of continuous possession under the statutory conditions. A co-owner who has lived on or controlled a property for years may raise these arguments, so the history of possession needs to be documented early.

Where the property is held through an LLC or corporation, the better remedy may be dissolution rather than partition. A court may dissolve an LLC when members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the company’s affairs under its operating agreement. In an LLC dissolution case the court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. For corporations, shareholders have parallel dissolution remedies, and other shareholders or the company may elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, with a 60-day window for the parties to agree on price and terms. An operating agreement with a deadlock sale provision can displace a judicial dissolution if that provision is initiated in time. Reading the governing documents first often reveals a faster exit than a lawsuit.

Partition Action Questions Co-Owners Ask

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

Yes. Any co-owner may ask the circuit court for partition. The court can divide the land physically or, when division would prejudice the owners, order a sale and distribute the proceeds by ownership share. A co-owner cannot generally be compelled to stay in a shared ownership indefinitely.

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

Partition in kind divides the land into separate parcels. Partition by sale converts the property to cash, which is then shared. Courts lean toward sale when the property, such as a single house or a commercial building, cannot be split fairly, and commissioners advise the court on which approach is workable.

How are ownership percentages decided?

They usually follow the deed, but they can be contested. A partition complaint must state what each owner holds, and defendants can dispute those figures. Credits for taxes, mortgage payments, insurance, and improvements are typically sorted out as part of dividing the proceeds.

What is heirs property and why does it matter?

Heirs property is real property held as tenants in common where at least one owner acquired title from a relative and other statutory conditions are met, including relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. If the court finds the property qualifies, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act governs, adding protections before a forced sale.

Can I buy out the other owners instead of selling?

Often, yes. Many partition cases end in a negotiated buyout, and the process can include a fair value determination. Buying out the other side usually costs less and preserves more value than an auction.

How are the commissioners chosen?

After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three suitable persons as commissioners. The court selects them unless the parties agree on who should serve.

Does a partition action work when the property is owned by an LLC?

Partition applies to co-owners of real property, not to members of an LLC that holds title. If the company owns the land, the remedy usually runs through the operating agreement, a buyout, or judicial dissolution rather than partition of the real estate itself.

Can I stop a partition by living in the home?

Occupying the property does not defeat a co-owner’s right to seek partition, though it can affect credits, claims for use of the property, and the court’s view of how a division should work. Living there may also support arguments about contributions you have made.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Do I have to come to Florida for the case?

Not for every step. We handle the local filings and court appearances in Palm Beach and Broward County and keep out of state clients informed throughout, so most owners can participate without repeated trips.

Where is a partition case filed if the property is in Broward County?

Because partition concerns the land itself, it is filed in the circuit court for the county where the property sits. For Broward properties that is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, whose complex business division also handles certain business-entity dissolution matters that sometimes accompany real estate disputes.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the other owner and I mostly agree?

Often yes. Even a friendly separation benefits from correct documents, a clean title result, and clarity on credits and taxes. Counsel can also confirm whether the property qualifies as heirs property, which changes the rules for everyone.

How long does a partition action take?

Timing depends on whether the case is contested, whether title or credit disputes need to be resolved first, and whether commissioners and an auction are required. Cases that settle through a buyout or private sale move far faster than those that run through judgment, commissioner reports, and a court-ordered sale.

Serving Partition Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

Our work starts in Palm Beach County, where we represent co-owners in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, and Belle Glade, along with the surrounding residential and commercial areas. Disputes there often involve inherited homes, waterfront parcels, commercial buildings, and investment property held among former partners.

We also serve Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, and Davie. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or business interests anywhere in South Florida can rely on us to manage the local proceedings. Whether the dispute is a shared home, a building owned by a failed venture, or land inherited among siblings, we tailor the approach to the property, the title, and the people involved.

Talk With a South Florida Partition Action Lawyer

If a co-owner will not cooperate, the right next step is a clear-eyed review of your deed, your agreements, and your options, including buyout, negotiated sale, or litigation. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can evaluate whether a partition action attorney in South Florida is the right fit for your situation or whether a title claim or business dissolution should come first. Call to schedule a consultation and get a practical plan for separating from a shared property on fair terms.