Davie Partition Action Attorney

Co-owners who want out of a shared piece of real estate usually want one of two things: their fair share of the land, or their fair share of the money when it sells. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, heirs, and families in Davie and across Broward County and Palm Beach County who need a court to resolve a jointly owned property, and a Davie partition action attorney can often turn a years-long stalemate into a defined legal process with a clear end point.

Davie’s mix of equestrian acreage, older single-family lots, commercial parcels along its major corridors, and investment property held through LLCs produces co-ownership disputes of every kind. A parcel inherited by three siblings, a duplex bought by unmarried partners, a commercial building held by former business partners who no longer speak: each of these can leave one owner wanting to sell while another refuses to move. Florida law gives the owner who wants out a way forward, and that route runs through a partition case in circuit court.

Partition is not a negotiation tactic that lives only in a courtroom. Filing often changes the dynamics, because it puts a timeline and a judge behind what had been an open-ended disagreement. Many partition cases settle with a buyout or an agreed sale once the owners see where the case is headed.

How a Florida Partition Case Moves From Complaint to Closing

Under Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes, partition actions are heard in equity, which means the judge has broad authority to craft a fair outcome among the owners. The case starts with a complaint that must describe the land, identify each owner and where each lives, state the share each one holds, and include whatever else the court needs to decide the parties’ rights. Getting those details right at the outset matters, because a complaint that leaves out an owner or misstates a share creates problems that surface months later.

Once the court finds that a party is entitled to partition, it enters a judgment and appoints three commissioners, who are chosen by the court unless the owners agree on who they should be. The commissioners’ job is to look at the property and report on whether it can be physically divided fairly. A large acreage parcel may lend itself to being split into portions that each owner takes. A single house, a condominium unit, or a commercial building generally does not. When the commissioners report that division cannot be made without prejudice to the owners and the court agrees, the judge 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 also has discretion to allow a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, though at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless every party consents to different terms. In practice, owners frequently avoid the auction altogether. Once the case is pending, one owner may buy out the others at an agreed value, or all owners may agree to list the property on the open market with a court-approved process, which usually yields a better price than a forced sale.

Davie property that sits in Broward County is litigated in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Property held in Palm Beach County falls under the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Because these are equity cases, the judge decides the outcome, and the quality of the paper record, including deeds, closing documents, and proof of who paid what toward the mortgage, taxes, and repairs, tends to drive the result.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Davie Co-Ownership Disputes

The Andrew M. The firm serves Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and the rest of Broward County and Palm Beach County, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida. Partition actions and real estate title disputes sit squarely within the firm’s regular work, alongside business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, and injunction practice.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Miami. His career has centered on contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which matters in partition work because so many co-owned properties trace back to a business relationship that has fallen apart. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a file knows its details and can answer when a client calls. A strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable. The firm also tries to match the strategy to the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake, and its attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation. That matters in a partition case, where a negotiated buyout can leave everyone better off than an auction.

A recent result shows the firm’s real estate trial work. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Partition cases are decided by a judge rather than a jury, and the same preparation that wins a bench trial, a tight factual record and a clear legal theory, carries directly into this work. The firm also handles local court appearances for out of state clients and accepts referrals from other attorneys whose clients have Florida property disputes.

Situations That Lead Davie Owners to Seek Partition

• Inherited Property Among Siblings or Relatives: Heirs often take title together as tenants in common, and one wants to sell while another wants to keep the family home. Florida has a separate set of rules, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act in Part II of Chapter 64, that applies to qualifying heirs property in actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. Those rules add protections such as buyout rights for cotenants who want to keep the property.
• Former Business Partners Holding Real Estate: A building, warehouse, or development parcel bought through a partnership or LLC can become a point of conflict when the business relationship ends. Sometimes the right fix is partition; other times it is dissolution of the entity, and the two tracks may need to be coordinated.
• Unmarried Couples Who Bought Together: Without the property division framework that applies in divorce, unmarried co-owners rely on title and contribution evidence. Partition is often the cleanest way to separate when one partner will not agree to sell or refinance.
• Investors in Shared Rental or Development Property: When co-investors disagree about holding versus selling, or one stops contributing to carrying costs, partition gives the owner who wants liquidity a path to it.
• Co-Owners Who Need Title Cleared: Some owners need to be removed from a deed or resolve competing ownership claims. Florida’s quiet title statute, Chapter 65, allows an action to determine title and remove a cloud on it, and it can be filed in any county where part of the land lies. Plaintiffs generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.
• Carrying Cost Disputes: One owner may have paid the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs for years while another contributed nothing. Those payments can be accounted for in a partition case, which is why receipts and bank records matter.
• Owners Who Are Out of State: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut residents who inherited or invested in Davie and Broward property can pursue partition without relocating, because local counsel handles the Florida court proceedings.

What to Do Right Now if a Co-Owner Will Not Cooperate

Start by collecting the documents that prove who owns what. That means the deed, any closing statement, the mortgage and loan records, property tax bills, insurance policies, and anything showing who has paid for upkeep or improvements. If the property came through an estate, gather the death certificate, the will if there is one, and any probate filings. If it is held through an LLC or partnership, pull the operating agreement or partnership agreement, because it may contain buyout, transfer, or dispute resolution provisions that change your options.

Next, check whether any written agreement already governs a sale. A co-ownership agreement, an operating agreement, or a buy-sell provision may require mediation first, set a valuation method, or restrict who can buy an owner’s share. Filing a partition case that ignores such a clause can invite a motion to dismiss or stay. It is equally important to avoid acts that cause new problems, such as changing locks, collecting rent without telling the other owners, or taking out a loan against the property. Each can become a counterclaim or a point of leverage for the other side.

Then talk to a partition attorney before sending demand letters. A well-drafted letter can open a buyout conversation and create a record that you tried to resolve the matter. A poorly drafted one can lock you into a position. If the property is in Davie or elsewhere in Broward County, the case will be filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County, and the Broward Clerk handles filings at the Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Broward also has a complex business division that handles certain business entity dissolutions and large business litigation, which can matter when the property dispute is entangled with a company breakup. Property in Palm Beach County is handled by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, whose main courthouse is in West Palm Beach.

Finally, think about timing and leverage. Partition generally cannot be forced quickly, but a delay can cost money. Taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments continue while owners argue, and a co-owner who stops paying can put the whole property at risk. If you suspect a co-owner is diverting rent, removing fixtures, or moving assets, tell your attorney early, because the court can be asked for emergency relief, including injunctions, while the case is pending.

When the Property Is Tied Up in a Business Breakup

Many Davie partition disputes are really business disputes wearing a real estate costume. When the property is owned by an LLC or corporation rather than by individuals, a partition action may not be the right tool, because the entity owns the property and the members own the entity. In that situation the question becomes how to separate the owners, not how to divide the land.

Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on specific grounds, including that the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring, that assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or that it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement. In those proceedings the court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement contains its own deadlock sale provision that is initiated before the court finds deadlock, that contractual mechanism can take the place of a judicial dissolution order.

For corporations, the shareholder statutes work similarly. A shareholder can petition for judicial dissolution on enumerated grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders can elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. Those timing and election rules reward owners who understand them early. The firm’s work in business divorce, valuation disputes, and breach of fiduciary duty claims means the real estate and entity questions can be handled together rather than in separate fights that contradict each other.

Davie Partition Action Questions Owners Ask

What is a partition action in Florida?

It is a lawsuit asking a court to end co-ownership of real property, either by dividing the land among the owners or, when division is not practical, by selling it and splitting the proceeds according to each owner’s share. These cases are heard in equity under Chapter 64.

Can one co-owner force a sale if the others refuse?

Generally, yes. A co-owner usually has a right to ask the court for partition, even over the objection of the others. The court decides whether the land can be divided fairly or must be sold, and special rules apply when the property qualifies as heirs property.

Who decides whether the property is divided or sold?

The court appoints three commissioners after entering a judgment of partition. They report on whether the property can be divided without prejudice to the owners. If they say it cannot and the judge agrees, the court may order a sale at public auction.

What is heirs property and why does it matter?

Heirs property is real property held in a tenancy in common where there is no binding agreement among all cotenants governing partition, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and another qualifying condition applies, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. If the property qualifies, Part II of Chapter 64 governs and gives cotenants additional buyout and process protections.

Will my property be sold at auction for less than it is worth?

It can happen, which is one reason owners often negotiate a buyout or an agreed market sale before an auction occurs. The court may also permit a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, with at least one-third of the purchase money paid down unless all parties consent otherwise.

How long does a partition case take in Broward County?

There is no fixed timeline. Cases that settle early can resolve in months, while contested cases involving valuation fights, missing heirs, or competing claims take longer. The number of owners, the condition of title, and how cooperative each side is all affect the pace.

Can I get credit for paying the mortgage and taxes on a co-owned property?

Often yes. Owners who paid more than their share of carrying costs or funded improvements can raise those payments in the case, and the court can account for them when dividing proceeds. Keep bank records, receipts, and tax bills to support the claim.

What if the property is owned by an LLC and not by individuals?

Partition applies to people who own the land as cotenants. If an LLC holds title, the remedy is usually found in the operating agreement or in the LLC statute’s dissolution and buyout provisions, which allow a court to order dissolution on defined grounds or direct a purchase of a member’s interest.

Can I file in Broward County if I live in New York or New Jersey?

Yes. A partition case is filed where the property is located, not where the owner lives. Out of state owners can retain Florida counsel to appear at hearings and handle the proceedings, and the firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida property.

Is a partition action the same as a quiet title action?

No. Partition divides or sells property among owners who each have a legitimate interest. A quiet title action under Chapter 65 determines who owns the land or removes a cloud on title, and it often comes first when ownership itself is in doubt. Sometimes both are needed in the same dispute.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if my co-owner might agree to sell?

Often, yes. Even a cooperative co-owner may disagree about price, timing, or how to split expenses already paid. An attorney can document a buyout or sale agreement so it is enforceable and so the title work, closing, and distribution of proceeds do not turn into a second dispute.

Do I need to go to trial?

Not necessarily. Many partition cases resolve through negotiation or mediation once the process is underway. Where a trial is required, it is typically a bench trial before a judge, which is how the firm obtained a recent specific performance judgment in a Broward County commercial real estate case.

Serving Davie and Surrounding South Florida Communities in Partition Matters

The firm represents co-owners from Davie and its neighboring Broward County communities, including Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, Weston, Cooper City, Southwest Ranches, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Lauderhill, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Parkland, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach. Rural-feeling acreage, older residential neighborhoods, and commercial parcels in this part of Broward all produce co-ownership disputes that can end up in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.

The firm’s work also extends north into Palm Beach County, serving clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, and Jupiter, as well as the surrounding communities across both counties. Whether the property is a family home inherited by siblings, a building held by former partners, or an investment parcel shared by co-investors, the same partition and title tools apply. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own South Florida property can also work with the firm without traveling for every hearing.

Speak With a Davie Partition Action Lawyer About Ending a Co-Ownership Standoff

If a co-owner is blocking a sale, holding up a buyout, or refusing to share the costs of a property you own together, a conversation with a Davie partition action lawyer can clarify what the court can order and what a realistic outcome looks like. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your deed, any ownership agreements, and the history of who has paid for what, then explain whether partition, a buyout, quiet title, or an entity-level remedy fits your situation. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and learn what your options are.