Florida Partition Action Attorney

A partition lawsuit does not always end with a split of the land. In Florida, the most common outcome of a contested case is a court-ordered sale, and the owner who wanted out sometimes learns that the co-owner who wanted to stay is entitled to be heard on how that sale happens. The Florida partition action attorney you choose should know how those mechanics work before the complaint is drafted. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles partition actions, title disputes, and related business and real estate litigation for owners in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and across Palm Beach County, Broward County, and South Florida.

Partition is a remedy that sits in equity, and every action for it is brought in the chancery side of the circuit court under Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes. It is available to people who hold property together without any agreement about how or when to end the arrangement: former business partners, siblings who inherited a house, unmarried couples, and investors whose joint venture has soured. What separates a clean case from a drawn-out one is usually what the court is asked to do with the property, who is on the title, and whether the parties are really fighting about land or about something else entirely.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes. Firm founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation and was 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 experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

That background matters in partition work because these cases rarely involve land alone. Many grow out of a broken business relationship, an unpaid capital contribution, or a family fight over an inheritance, and the firm’s practice in business divorce, partnership disputes, and contract litigation means the underlying money and ownership questions get handled alongside the property claim. Andrew Schwartz’s career has been built around complex contract disputes and conflicts between partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is often exactly the history behind a jointly held property.

Real estate results are part of the record as well. After a five-day bench trial in a Broward County commercial real estate case, the Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of the contract. The firm also works with out of state clients, including owners in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handling the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing, and it accepts referrals from other attorneys whose clients have Florida property disputes. The attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and they look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget.

Situations That Lead to Partition Actions in South Florida

• Former Business Partners Holding Real Estate: When a company or joint venture buys property and the relationship collapses, the owners are left tied together by a deed. Partition is often paired with claims for an accounting or breach of an operating or shareholder agreement.
• Inherited Property Among Siblings or Relatives: Heirs who take title together as tenants in common frequently disagree about whether to sell, rent, or keep the home. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, found in Part II of Chapter 64, applies to actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and gives qualifying family co-owners added protections before a forced sale.
• Unmarried Couples Who Bought Together: With no divorce court to divide assets, partition is frequently the only route for separating jointly titled property after a breakup.
• Investors Who Want Out of a Shared Investment: Multiple owners of a condo, rental, or commercial parcel may disagree about holding versus selling, and the minority owner who wants liquidity needs a lawful way out.
• Co-Owners Who Will Not Pay or Cooperate: One owner may carry the mortgage, taxes, and insurance while another collects rent or occupies the property. Those contributions can be raised in the case so the final accounting reflects who actually paid what.
• Title Disputes and Clouded Ownership: Competing claims, defective conveyances, or a questionable deed can complicate who the proper parties are. Quiet title actions under Chapter 65 may run alongside or before a partition case.
• Commercial and Residential Property in Both Counties: The same dispute pattern appears whether the asset is a Boca Raton home, an investment property in Broward County, or a shared commercial building in Palm Beach County.

What to Do If You Co-Own Property You Cannot Agree On

Start by pulling the recorded deed and any agreement among the owners. How title is held, whether as tenants in common or otherwise, and whether anyone signed a buy-sell, operating, or co-ownership agreement, shapes everything that follows. If a written agreement already addresses sale or buyout terms, it may control or at least narrow the dispute, so find it before anyone files anything. Gather mortgage statements, tax bills, insurance records, repair invoices, and any evidence of rent collected or exclusive occupation, because contributions and benefits will matter when the court sorts out the money.

Understand what the complaint has to contain. Under Chapter 64, the partition complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, state the share each holds, and set out anything else the court needs to decide the parties’ rights. Errors or omissions about who owns what can slow a case badly, which is one reason to have the title reviewed before filing. Because partition cases proceed in chancery, a Palm Beach County property is heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and a Broward County property in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and the case belongs in the county where the land sits.

Do not take drastic self-help steps. Changing locks, cutting off a co-owner’s access, or secretly listing the property can create new claims against you. If a co-owner is draining rents, encumbering the property, or moving assets, tell your lawyer right away, since emergency injunctive relief may be available to freeze the situation while the case is pending. If you live outside Florida, you can still bring or defend the action here with local counsel handling the court appearances. And keep communications with the other owners civil and in writing; texts and emails sent in anger tend to resurface at trial.

Partition in Kind Versus Partition by Sale

The word partition suggests dividing land into pieces, and where land can be fairly divided, the court can do exactly that. Once the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on them, to determine whether the property can be divided without prejudicing the owners. For a single-family house, a condominium unit, or a small commercial building, division is rarely practical. If the commissioners report that division cannot be made without prejudice and the court is satisfied, the court may order the property sold at public auction to the highest bidder and divide the proceeds among the owners in proportion to their interests.

The terms of the sale can matter. The court may allow a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless all parties consent to something different. That is a practical point for anyone who expects to bid on the property themselves or who is worried that a forced sale will bring a low price.

Heirs property cases work differently. If the court determines the property qualifies as heirs property under Part II of Chapter 64, the court must proceed under that Part unless all the cotenants agree otherwise in a record. The definition is technical: the property is held in tenancy in common, there is no binding agreement among all cotenants governing partition, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and one of several additional conditions applies, including that 20 percent or more of the interests are held by cotenants who are relatives. Under that framework, a judgment of partition in kind is not entered unless the court is satisfied that the commissioners considered the statutory factors and found that dividing the property in kind would prejudice the cotenants as a group. Whether a given family property qualifies is exactly the type of threshold question to resolve early.

When the Real Fight Is About the Business, Not the Building

Partition is sometimes the wrong tool or only one of several. If the property is owned by an LLC or corporation, the members or shareholders do not co-own the real estate directly, and the remedy may lie in business dissolution or a buyout instead. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a court can dissolve a company on a member’s or manager’s petition on grounds that include deadlock with threatened irreparable injury, misappropriated or wasted assets, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, or that it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business in line with the articles and operating agreement. In an LLC dissolution case the court may, on a showing of sufficient merit, appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest.

For corporations, a shareholder may seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on fair value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms. Operating and shareholder agreements may also contain deadlock-sale provisions that take priority if properly initiated. Choosing between partition, dissolution, a buyout, or an accounting claim is a strategic decision, and the answer depends on how title is actually held and what the agreements say.

Frequently Asked Questions About Florida Partition Actions

What is a partition action in Florida?

It is a lawsuit asking a court to end a co-ownership of real property, either by dividing the land among the owners or, when division is not practical, by ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds. All partition actions are brought in the chancery side of the circuit court under Chapter 64.

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

Generally, yes, a co-owner can ask the court to partition the property even over the objection of the others. Whether the court divides the land or orders a sale depends on what is practical and fair, and special protections apply when the property qualifies as heirs property.

Who has to be named in the lawsuit?

The complaint must identify the owners, where they live, and the share each holds. Naming everyone with an interest matters, because a judgment generally cannot bind someone who was left out, and defects in who owns what can delay the case.

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

A court-ordered sale is conducted at public auction to the highest bidder, which can bring a lower price than a negotiated sale. That risk is a reason many owners try to agree on a private sale or a buyout by one owner before the court takes control of the process.

Can I buy out my co-owner instead of selling?

Often, yes. Owners can agree on a buyout at any point, and in heirs property cases the statute builds in a buyout process. A negotiated buyout is usually faster and cheaper than a contested sale, but it requires agreement on value.

What counts as heirs property, and why does it matter?

It is tenancy-in-common real property with no binding agreement governing partition, where at least one cotenant took title from a relative and a further condition applies, such as relatives holding 20 percent or more of the interests. If it qualifies, the court must use the heirs property procedures, which are designed to make a forced sale harder.

What happens if one owner has paid all the mortgage and taxes?

Those payments can be raised in the case, and the final distribution can account for contributions and for any rent or benefit one owner took from the property. Keep every payment record.

How long does a partition case take in Palm Beach or Broward County?

There is no fixed timeline. An uncontested case with cooperative owners can move quickly, while a contested case involving title questions, valuation fights, or related business claims takes longer. Palm Beach County cases are assigned to a track under the Fifteenth Circuit’s differentiated case management system.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can I bring or defend a partition case here?

Yes. The case is filed in the county where the property is located, and local counsel can handle the court appearances while you are kept informed. Many of our clients own South Florida property from out of state.

What if my co-owner is a former business partner and we have other disputes?

Partition may be only one claim. Accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of an operating agreement, and recovery of company funds can be part of the same dispute, and sequencing them properly affects both cost and leverage.

Is a quiet title action the same as partition?

No. Quiet title resolves who holds title or removes a cloud on it, while partition ends a shared ownership. Sometimes a title problem has to be settled first. A quiet title complaint may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff must generally trace title for at least seven years.

Do I need to go to court at all?

Not always. Many co-ownership disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm’s attorneys have experience in all of them alongside courtroom litigation.

Serving Co-Owners and Partition Clients Across Palm Beach County and Broward County

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents property owners throughout Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach to Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Belle Glade. The firm also serves Broward County owners in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, Davie, Hollywood, and the surrounding communities. Partition cases for Palm Beach County property are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and Broward County property is heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, with federal matters in the Southern District of Florida when jurisdiction requires it.

Beyond South Florida’s own residents, the firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold investment property, business interests, or inherited real estate here, and it works with referring attorneys across state lines.

Talk With a Florida Partition Action Lawyer in South Florida

If you share title to property and cannot agree on its future, a conversation early on can narrow the choices before they harden into litigation. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review how title is held, what agreements exist, and whether partition, a buyout, or a different remedy fits your situation. Call the firm to talk with a Florida partition action lawyer about your co-owned property and the options available in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and throughout South Florida.