Palm Beach County Partition Action Attorney

A partition case is not really about dividing land; it is about getting out of a deadlock when no one else can agree to let you go. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for clients in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and across South Florida, and a Palm Beach County partition action attorney is often the person co-owners call after the negotiating has stopped working.

Under Florida law, a co-owner generally does not have to stay locked into shared ownership. A court sitting in equity can divide the property or, when division is not workable, order it sold and split the proceeds. That sounds simple, but who owns what share, whether the property is treated as “heirs property,” how a sale is run, and what happens to competing claims over rent, taxes, and improvements all shape the result. In Palm Beach County, these cases are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for the county, and they turn on the details of how title is held and how the owners got there.

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 some of South Florida’s most contested business and real estate disputes. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz 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. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is exactly the background that partition cases between former business partners and co-investors call for.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Clients tend to arrive expecting a hyper-aggressive posture; what most of them actually need is a lawyer who matches the tone to the situation and keeps fees in proportion to what is at stake.

On the real estate side, the firm recently won a final judgment granting specific performance of a commercial real estate contract in Broward County Circuit Court after a 5-day bench trial, resulting in a 32-page ruling. That kind of trial work, built on contract language and the history between the parties, carries directly into partition and title fights, where the paper trail decides the case. The firm also accepts referrals from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients own Florida property, and handles the local court appearances so out of state owners do not have to travel for every hearing.

Situations That Lead Co-Owners to File for Partition

• Former Business Partners Holding Real Estate: When a company breaks up but the building, land, or investment parcel is still held jointly, partition lets one owner exit without waiting for the other to cooperate. These cases often run alongside buyout and dissolution claims.
• Siblings and Relatives Who Inherited Together: Several heirs hold a home or lot as tenants in common, and one wants to sell while another lives there or refuses to leave. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act adds protections that can change how these cases are resolved.
• Unmarried Couples: Two people buy a home together and later separate. Without marriage, there is no divorce court to divide the house, so partition is frequently the available route.
• Investors Who Want Out: One of several investors in a shared parcel wants liquidity while the others want to hold. Partition, often with a sale, can end the standoff.
• Out of State Owners: Owners in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut who hold an interest in Palm Beach County property with a local co-owner who is in possession, collecting rent, or ignoring requests to sell.
• Title Clouds That Complicate the Case: Competing ownership claims, unclear deeds, or disputed interests may need a quiet title action first or alongside partition so the court knows who the owners actually are.
• Property Tied to an LLC or Corporation: When the real estate sits inside an entity, the right remedy may be judicial dissolution or a buyout rather than partition of the land itself, and choosing wrong wastes time and money.

What to Do When a Co-Owner Will Not Cooperate

Start by pinning down exactly how title is held. Pull the deed and any recorded instruments, and note whether the owners are tenants in common, how large each share is, and whether any written agreement already governs a sale or buyout. If a buy-sell or co-ownership agreement exists, it may control the process or require steps before anyone files. Gather records of who has paid the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and repairs, and who has collected rent or lived in the property. Those numbers drive the accounting that usually accompanies a partition case.

Next, resist the urge to settle the dispute through self-help. Changing locks, cutting off a co-owner’s access, or quietly listing the property can create counterclaims. Likewise, do not assume that a long period of exclusive use by the other owner has handed them the property. Florida adverse possession is a narrow doctrine; without color of title it requires actual, continued possession for seven years under a claim of title exclusive of any other right, plus the statutory filing requirements, and a co-owner’s ordinary use rarely meets it. Still, if someone is asserting that kind of claim against you, that needs immediate attention.

Partition complaints in Palm Beach County are filed in the circuit court, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, and the complaint has to describe the land, name the owners and where they live, state what share each holds, and include whatever else the court needs to decide the parties’ rights. If the property is in more than one county, that affects where and how the case proceeds. Where the dispute also involves property in Broward County, those matters belong to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and Broward has a complex business division that hears certain business entity disputes.

Talk with a Palm Beach County business litigation attorney before sending demand letters or filing anything. Early advice can determine whether partition, a negotiated buyout, mediation, or a different claim entirely fits your goals and budget.

How a Florida Partition Case Actually Unfolds

Partition actions in Florida are equitable proceedings, so the judge has latitude to sort out the economic side of co-ownership alongside the division itself. Once the court enters a judgment of partition, it generally appoints three suitable commissioners, selected by the court unless the parties agree on who they should be. The commissioners look at whether the land can be divided fairly. For a single house, a condo, or a small lot, they often report that division in kind would harm the owners, and the court can then order the property sold at public auction to the highest bidder, with the proceeds divided in proportion to each owner’s interest.

Sales on credit are possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase price must be paid down unless every party consents to different terms. Many owners prefer to avoid an auction altogether and negotiate a private sale or a buyout during the case, which often brings a better price and lower cost. The firm’s experience with mediation and arbitration matters here, because most partition disputes are resolved by agreement once the exposure on both sides becomes clear.

Heirs property is a separate track. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after its effective date, and if the court finds the property qualifies, it must be handled under that statute unless all cotenants agree otherwise in a record. Qualifying property is held in tenancy in common, has no binding agreement among all cotenants on partition, was acquired in part from a relative, and meets additional conditions, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. The Act favors partition in kind over forced sale and gives cotenants other options, so a court will not order division in kind unless the commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found it would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

When Partition Is Only One Piece of a Larger Dispute

Partition rarely stands alone between former business partners. The property may have been bought with company money, one partner may have diverted rents, or the co-owners may be fighting over the entity that holds title. Florida’s LLC statute lets a court dissolve a company when managers or 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 business under the operating agreement. In those cases the court can appoint a receiver or custodian or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest, after a hearing with notice to the parties. For corporations, shareholders have parallel remedies, including an election to purchase a petitioning shareholder’s shares at fair value, which becomes binding once made unless the court finds it equitable to modify it.

If competing ownership claims are muddying the picture, a quiet title action asks the court to determine title and remove the cloud. Plaintiffs generally must trace title back at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise, and a quiet title case can be filed in any county where part of the land lies. A Boca Raton partition lawyer who also handles business divorce and title disputes can coordinate these claims instead of litigating them piecemeal.

Partition Action Questions Palm Beach County Owners Ask

What is a partition action?

It is a lawsuit asking the court to end co-ownership of real property, either by physically dividing it or by ordering a sale and splitting the money among the owners according to their shares.

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

Generally, yes. A co-owner usually has the right to seek partition even over the objection of the others, subject to any binding agreement among the owners and to special rules for heirs property.

Which court hears a Palm Beach County partition case?

Partition actions are equitable matters heard in circuit court. For Palm Beach County property, that is the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, sitting in and for the county.

Who decides whether the property is divided or sold?

After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners who evaluate whether the land can be divided without prejudice to the owners. If they report it cannot, the court may order a sale.

Does the sale have to be a public auction?

The statute contemplates a public sale to the highest bidder, but owners can often agree to a private sale or buyout, which tends to save cost and improve the price.

What is heirs property, and why does it matter?

It is jointly inherited land held as tenants in common without a binding partition agreement, where at least one owner acquired title from a relative and further conditions are met. Heirs property is partitioned under a separate statute that gives cotenants added protections and favors partition in kind.

If my co-owner has lived in the property for years, can they claim it?

Not automatically. Adverse possession in Florida demands actual, continued possession for seven years under a claim of title exclusive of any other right, along with statutory filing requirements. A co-owner simply living on shared property usually does not meet that standard.

Can I recover what I paid for taxes, insurance, and repairs?

Often, yes. Because partition is an equitable proceeding, the court can account for each owner’s contributions and for rents collected, adjusting the division of proceeds accordingly. Keep every payment record.

What if our property is owned through an LLC and we are also fighting over the business?

Then partition of the land may not be the right tool. Judicial dissolution, a court-ordered buyout, or a receiver may be more appropriate, and the operating agreement may include its own buyout or deadlock sale provision that controls.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Can I handle this from out of state?

Yes. The firm regularly represents out of state owners with Palm Beach County interests, handles the local court appearances, and keeps clients informed so they do not need to travel for each hearing.

Does every partition case end up in a courtroom fight?

No. Many resolve through negotiation or mediation once the owners see the likely outcome and cost. The firm pursues the path that fits the client’s goals and budget.

How long do I have to act on a related contract claim, such as a broken buyout agreement?

Claims founded on a written instrument carry a five-year limitations period in Florida, while oral or implied contract claims carry four years. A suit for specific performance has a one-year period. Because these clocks differ, speak with counsel before waiting.

Serving Partition and Co-Ownership Clients Across Palm Beach County and South Florida

The firm represents co-owners throughout Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach up through Lake Worth, Lantana, and West Palm Beach. We also serve owners in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, Riviera Beach, and Belle Glade, along with the surrounding communities that make up the county.

Because many South Florida properties and partners straddle county lines, the firm also represents clients in neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, and the surrounding area, and handles matters throughout South Florida. Owners who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut but hold a share of Palm Beach County or Broward County real estate are a regular part of the practice.

Talk With a Palm Beach County Partition Attorney Today

If a co-owner is blocking a sale, keeping the rent, or refusing to talk, a Palm Beach County partition attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your deed, your agreements, and your options, and explain whether partition, a buyout, or a broader claim makes the most sense. Call to schedule a consultation and get a plan that fits your goals and your budget.