Lantana Partition Action Attorney

Co-owners who want out of a shared property usually need one of two results: a fair division of the land or a court-ordered sale with the proceeds split by ownership share. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners in Lantana and across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and a Lantana partition action attorney at the firm can walk you through which of those results is realistic for your property and how to get there.

Partition is a court remedy, and it is built to work even when one owner refuses to cooperate. In Florida, every partition action is brought in chancery under Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes, which means a judge sitting in equity decides how the property gets divided, and that judge has real flexibility in doing so. For Lantana owners, that case is filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Property in a small coastal town can be worth far more than its owners’ ability to agree about it, and that gap is where most partition cases begin.

Most of these disputes share a pattern: the owners did not choose to be tied together forever, one of them wants to cash out, and the others will not buy, sell, or negotiate. Partition exists so that no co-owner is locked into a shared asset indefinitely.

Who Ends Up Needing a Partition Action

The common thread is co-ownership without agreement on exit. These are the situations we see most often in this kind of case, along with the legal context that shapes each one.

• Former Business Partners: Two partners or LLC members bought a building or parcel together, and the business relationship ended while the real estate stayed on title. The property often has to be untangled alongside broader partnership or operating agreement claims.
• Heirs Who Inherited Together: Siblings or other relatives inherit a house as co-owners, and one wants to sell while another lives there or wants to keep it. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, found in Part II of Chapter 64, applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and changes the process when the property qualifies as heirs property.
• Unmarried Couples: Partners who bought a home together and separated have no divorce court to divide it. Partition is frequently the only path to a court-ordered resolution.
• Investor Groups: Several investors hold a rental or development parcel, and one wants liquidity while the others want to hold. Partition lets the unwilling-to-wait owner exit without waiting for consensus.
• Owners With Unequal Contributions: One co-owner has paid the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs while another has paid nothing. The court can account for those payments when it divides the proceeds.
• Out-of-State Owners: Co-owners living in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut may hold a Lantana property inherited or purchased years ago, with a local co-owner in possession. The firm regularly represents clients from those states and handles the local court proceedings for them.
• Properties With Competing Title Claims: Sometimes the question is not just how to divide the property but who actually owns what. A quiet title action under Chapter 65 may need to run alongside or ahead of the partition.

How a Florida Partition Case Moves From Complaint to Closing

The complaint comes first, and it carries more weight than owners expect. Under Section 64.041, it must describe the land, name each owner and where each lives, and state the share each person holds. Mistakes about who owns what, or leaving out an owner or lienholder, can stall the case or leave the final result vulnerable.

After the defendants are served and the court determines ownership interests, the judge can enter a judgment of partition. At that stage the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on who they should be. The commissioners examine the property and report whether it can be divided fairly in kind. For a single-family home, a condominium unit, or a small commercial parcel, they very often conclude it cannot be divided without prejudicing the owners.

When that happens, the court may order the property sold at public auction to the highest bidder and divide the proceeds in proportion to each owner’s interest. The court can 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 different terms. Heirs property cases follow a different sequence: a partition in kind generally is not entered unless the court is satisfied the commissioners weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group, and the process gives cotenants a chance to buy out a seller before a forced sale.

Many partition cases never reach the auction. The realistic leverage of a court-ordered sale tends to bring owners to the table, and a negotiated buyout, a voluntary sale, or a mediated agreement often produces a better price and lower cost than an auction. The attorneys at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we pursue the path that serves a client’s goals and budget.

Why Lantana Owners Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and communities throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County, including Lantana. Partition actions and real estate title disputes are a core part of the firm’s work, alongside business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, and injunctions.

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 holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Miami. His career has centered on complex contract disputes and conflicts among co-owners, which is exactly the terrain partition cases cover: who owns what, who paid what, and whether an agreement says what each side claims. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy. In November 2024 the firm reported a result in a Broward County commercial real estate case: after a 5-day bench trial, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of detailed, document-driven trial work carries directly into partition disputes, which often turn on deeds, contribution records, and the history between the owners. A significant part of the firm’s practice also comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out-of-state lawyers whose clients own Florida property.

What to Do Before and After Filing for Partition

Start by pulling together the ownership documents: the deed or deeds, any trust or estate paperwork that put title in multiple names, the mortgage, and any written agreement among the owners about the property. How title is held matters. Partition is available to owners who hold as tenants in common, and the form of ownership affects both your rights and the cleanest legal route. If the deed is unclear or someone else claims an interest, a title review should come before anything is filed.

Next, build a record of money. Keep proof of who has paid the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, repairs, and improvements, and of any rent collected or any owner who has had exclusive use of the property. Courts in equity can adjust the division of proceeds for these items, and the owner who documents them is in a much stronger position than one relying on memory. Do not stop paying carrying costs because the owners are in conflict. Letting taxes or the mortgage lapse can create liens and penalties that shrink everyone’s share, including yours. If an owner is trying to sell, encumber, or strip value from the property while the dispute is pending, the firm can seek temporary or emergency injunctive relief to hold things in place.

Be careful with deadlines. Partition itself is an equitable remedy tied to your ownership, but related claims carry their own limits. A contract claim founded on a written instrument has a five-year limitations period, an oral or implied contract claim has four years, and a fraud claim runs four years from discovery, capped at 12 years. A claim to recover real property generally requires that the claimant or a predecessor was in possession within the prior seven years, and adverse possession theories can arise when one co-owner has occupied the property for a long time and claims it as exclusively his or her own. If any of those issues might apply, raise them early.

In Palm Beach County, circuit civil matters are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach and branch courthouses serving other parts of the county. A property that straddles county lines or involves owners elsewhere may raise venue questions, and where the property is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit handles the case. We confirm the right forum before filing.

When Partition Is Not the Whole Problem

Partition rarely stands alone. If the property is owned by an LLC or corporation rather than by individuals, the remedy may be dissolution rather than partition. Florida’s LLC statute lets a court dissolve a company in a proceeding by a member or manager on grounds that include deadlock with irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, or the impracticability of carrying on the business under the operating agreement. The court may also appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of a petitioning member’s interest. Corporate shareholders have comparable options, including a fair-value buyout election by the corporation or other shareholders. If an operating or shareholder agreement contains a deadlock sale provision, that provision can displace a judicial dissolution order, so the documents need to be read before a strategy is chosen.

Title is the other frequent companion. When a competing claim, an old conveyance, or a cloud on title is in play, a quiet title action under Chapter 65 lets the court determine ownership and cancel evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. Quiet title plaintiffs generally must trace title back at least seven years, and these cases can be heard in any county where part of the land lies. Deciding whether to sequence quiet title before partition, or to join the claims, is a judgment call that depends on the facts.

Partition Action Questions Lantana Owners Ask

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

Generally, yes. A co-owner does not need the others’ consent to ask the court for partition. The court either divides the property or, when division would harm the owners, orders it sold and divides the proceeds by ownership share.

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

Partition in kind physically divides the land into separate parcels. Partition by sale converts the property to cash. A single house or condominium unit can almost never be fairly split, so sale is the more common outcome for residential property.

Who decides whether the property can be divided?

After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the judge unless the parties agree on them. They report whether the property can be divided without prejudice to the owners, and the court acts on that report.

How is the money divided after a sale?

Proceeds are divided in proportion to each owner’s interest, after costs and liens are addressed. A court sitting in equity can also account for one owner’s payment of mortgage, taxes, and repairs, so contribution records matter.

Does the court sell to the highest bidder at auction?

That is the default method. The court can allow a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless every party consents to other terms.

We inherited the house from a parent. Are the rules different?

They can be. If the property qualifies as heirs property, Part II of Chapter 64 governs the case. That framework is built to protect family cotenants from losing inherited land to a forced sale on unfavorable terms, and it typically gives cotenants a chance to buy out the party seeking partition. One qualifying path involves relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests.

Can I stop a co-owner from selling or borrowing against the property while the case is pending?

Possibly. A court can grant temporary or emergency injunctive relief to preserve the property and prevent assets from being moved or encumbered while the dispute is resolved. The firm handles emergency injunction requests as part of its practice.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Do I have to travel for hearings?

Not routinely. The firm regularly represents out-of-state clients with Florida property, handles the local court appearances and proceedings, and keeps clients informed at each stage so they can protect their interests without traveling for every hearing.

What if one co-owner has been living in the property and paying everything?

That owner’s payments and exclusive use are both relevant. Contribution for taxes, mortgage, insurance, and improvements can adjust the division, and the occupant’s use of the property can be raised by the other side. Documentation of both sides’ position is what drives the outcome.

Is a partition action ever resolved without a trial?

Often. A pending partition case gives every owner a strong incentive to negotiate a buyout, a voluntary sale, or a structured agreement, and mediation is a common route. Many disputes resolve before the commissioners ever report or an auction is held.

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

Often it is, because the cost of a poorly drafted complaint, a missed owner or lienholder, or a mishandled contribution claim can exceed the legal fee. The firm looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Serving Partition Clients in Lantana and Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

Our partition work starts in Lantana and extends throughout Palm Beach County, from Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, and Hypoluxo to Manalapan, Palm Beach, and West Palm Beach, then north to Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter and west into Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. Southward, we serve owners in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and the surrounding communities, and we represent clients across Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and neighboring cities. The firm also acts for clients living in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida, whether the co-owner is down the road in Lantana or elsewhere in the region.

Talk With a Lantana Partition Attorney About Your Property

If you share title to property in Lantana and the other owners will not buy, sell, or agree on a path forward, a Lantana partition lawyer from the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your deed, your finances, and your options, and tell you plainly whether a negotiated exit or a court-ordered sale is the better route. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of where you stand.