Weston Partition Action Attorney

Co-owners of a property in Weston who can no longer agree on what to do with it have a way out that does not depend on the other owner’s cooperation. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents co-owners in a Weston partition action attorney capacity, handling business and real estate disputes for clients in Weston, Fort Lauderdale, and across Broward County, as well as West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County.

A partition case is what happens when one owner wants to cash out and the others will not budge, or when nobody can agree on who pays the taxes, who lives in the house, or whether to sell at all. Florida law lets any co-owner ask a court to either divide the property or sell it and split the money. You do not need the other owners’ permission to file, and you generally cannot be forced to stay locked into a shared ownership you never wanted.

Weston has plenty of the situations that lead here: homes inherited by several siblings, investment properties bought by partners whose relationship has soured, and shared ownership between unmarried couples who have separated. How your case moves depends on who the owners are, how title is held, and what the property is.

How a Partition Case Unfolds in Broward County

Partition actions are filed in the circuit court, and for Weston properties that means the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Florida law allows the case to be filed in any county where part of the land sits, so the property’s location drives where you go. Under Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes, partition is an equitable proceeding, meaning the judge has broad room to shape a fair result.

The complaint has to be specific. It describes the land, names each owner along with where they live, and states what share each one holds, along with anything else the court needs to sort out the parties’ rights. Getting those details right at the start matters, because disputes over who owns what percentage can consume more time than the partition itself.

Once the court rules that partition is proper, it appoints three commissioners, who may be people the parties agree on or people the judge selects. The commissioners look at whether the land can be divided fairly. For a single-family home in a Weston neighborhood, division usually is not practical; you cannot hand one owner the kitchen and another the garage. When the commissioners report that dividing the property would prejudice the owners, the court can order it sold at public auction to the highest bidder, with proceeds split in proportion to each owner’s interest. The court may allow a sale on credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase price has to be paid down unless every party agrees to different terms.

Many partition cases never reach auction. The pressure of a pending sale often pushes owners toward a buyout, where one co-owner purchases the others’ shares at a negotiated price. We look for that kind of resolution when it serves the client, and we are prepared to litigate when it does not.

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, serving clients in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties. 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 practice is built around contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is exactly the background partition cases between former business partners 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 team, so everyone on your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when an attorney is in court. We are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we aim for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out.

The firm’s trial record includes a recent 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court that ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That experience in real property disputes before Broward judges carries directly into partition work, where the facts about title, contribution, and ownership often decide the outcome.

Many of our clients live outside Florida, particularly in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, while owning a share of South Florida real estate. We handle the local court appearances so out of state owners are not forced to travel for every hearing. We also work regularly with referrals from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have property disputes here.

Situations That Lead to Partition and Title Disputes

• Inherited Property Among Siblings: Several heirs take title together, and one wants to sell while another wants to keep the house. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, found in Part II of Chapter 64, applies when the property is held as tenants in common, there is no binding agreement among the cotenants on partition, some cotenant acquired title from a relative, and a further condition such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives is met. In those cases, the court must follow the heirs property procedures unless all cotenants agree otherwise in a record, and a partition in kind cannot be ordered unless commissioners have considered the statutory factors and found that division would prejudice the cotenants as a group.
• Former Business Partners Holding Real Estate: Two investors buy a commercial building through an entity or as individuals, and the partnership ends. If the property is held by an LLC, the dispute may belong in a dissolution proceeding rather than a partition case, and we sort out which path fits.
• Unmarried Couples: Partners who bought a home together without marrying have no divorce court to divide it. Partition is often the tool, and the dispute turns on who contributed what toward the down payment, mortgage, and upkeep.
• Investors Who Want Out: One investor in a shared rental or development property wants liquidity while the others want to hold. A partition action, or the credible threat of one, can force the buyout conversation.
• Quiet Title Actions: When competing claims cloud ownership, a quiet title suit under Chapter 65 asks the court to settle who holds title and to remove the cloud. The plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.
• Co-Owner Expenses and Missing Money: One owner pays the mortgage, taxes, and insurance while another collects rent or contributes nothing. These contributions and credits are often central to how sale proceeds get divided.
• Adverse Possession Claims: A co-owner or outsider who has occupied property as if it were theirs may assert a claim. Without color of title, Florida requires seven years of actual, continuous possession under a claim of title exclusive of any other right, along with a filing that includes a full legal description of the claimed parcel.

What to Do If a Co-Owner Dispute Has Reached the Breaking Point

Start by pulling together the paper trail. You want the deed or deeds, any operating agreement or co-ownership agreement, the closing statement, mortgage records, property tax bills, insurance policies, and proof of who paid for repairs, improvements, and carrying costs. Those documents establish each owner’s share and often decide how contributions are credited when proceeds are divided.

Next, check whether an agreement already governs the situation. If the property is held through an LLC or corporation, the operating or shareholder agreement may contain buyout or deadlock provisions that control before any court action makes sense. Where a business entity is involved, Florida’s LLC and corporation statutes offer judicial dissolution grounds such as deadlock, misappropriated assets, or conduct that makes carrying on the business impracticable, so the right filing depends on how title is actually held.

Do not stop paying the mortgage, taxes, or insurance out of frustration. A lapse hurts every owner, including you, and it can weaken your position when a judge looks at who carried the property. Equally, avoid changing locks, taking exclusive control, or collecting rent without telling the other owners, since those moves invite counterclaims and complicate a case that might otherwise settle.

If you are worried that a co-owner may mortgage, transfer, or sell the property out from under you, or move money tied to it, tell your attorney immediately. Florida courts can grant temporary and permanent injunctions, including emergency relief, to hold things in place while the case is pending.

For a Weston property, the case is filed in Broward County’s circuit court. Broward has a complex business division in the Seventeenth Circuit that handles some business entity disputes, and a case can be filed directly into it only by following the circuit’s administrative order and filing the required form with the Clerk, so a dispute tied to a company rather than to a simple shared deed may route differently. Your attorney will confirm where the case belongs before filing.

Weston Partition Action FAQs

Can I force the sale of a house I co-own in Weston?

Yes, a co-owner can ask the court for partition. If the property cannot be divided fairly, which is the usual case with a single-family home, the court can order it sold and the proceeds divided according to each owner’s interest.

Do the other owners have to agree before I file?

No. Partition is a right held by co-owners, and you can file without anyone else’s consent. Agreements among the owners can affect the case, though, so any written co-ownership terms should be reviewed first.

What does the court do after it orders partition?

The court appoints three commissioners, either people the parties agree on or ones the judge selects. They evaluate whether the land can be divided without prejudice to the owners, and if not, the court can order a sale at public auction.

Is a partition sale always at auction?

The statute provides for a sale at public auction to the highest bidder when division is not feasible. Many owners avoid that by negotiating a buyout or a private sale, which tends to bring a better price than a forced auction.

Does one owner get paid more if they covered the mortgage and taxes?

Often, yes. Courts can account for contributions toward carrying costs and improvements when dividing proceeds. The details depend on the facts, which is why documentation of payments is so valuable.

What if the property is held in an LLC rather than in our names?

Then partition may not be the right vehicle, because the entity owns the property and the members own the entity. The dispute may belong in an LLC dissolution or buyout proceeding, where a court can act on grounds such as deadlock or misappropriation of assets.

What is heirs property, and does it change my case?

Heirs property is real property held as tenants in common where no binding agreement among the cotenants governs partition, at least one cotenant took title from a relative, and another statutory condition applies, such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives. If the court finds the property qualifies, it must follow the special procedures in Part II of Chapter 64 unless all cotenants agree otherwise, and those procedures add protections against a forced sale.

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

Possibly. A court can grant injunctive relief, including on an emergency basis, to preserve a property or its value while the dispute is resolved. The strength of your request depends on the evidence of risk.

I live in New York and own a share of a Weston property. Do I have to appear in person?

Not for every proceeding. We handle local court appearances for out of state clients and keep you informed, so you can protect your interest without traveling for each hearing.

Is a quiet title action different from partition?

Yes. Partition divides or sells property among known co-owners, while quiet title resolves competing claims about who owns the property at all. Some disputes involve both, for example when ownership is contested before the property can be divided.

How long does a partition case take?

It varies widely. A case where owners settle early can resolve in a matter of months, while a contested case involving disputes over title, valuation, and contributions can take considerably longer. Cooperative owners shorten the timeline; litigation over ownership percentages extends it.

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

Often, yes, because partition involves procedural requirements and accounting questions that are easy to get wrong. A short consultation can show whether a buyout, a negotiated sale, or a filed case makes the most financial sense given what is at stake.

Serving Partition and Co-Ownership Clients Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

For Weston property owners, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team works throughout Broward County, including Weston itself and neighboring communities such as Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, and Cooper City. The firm also represents owners in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Hollywood.

Across the county line, we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Jupiter, as well as throughout Palm Beach County. Many of our clients live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut while holding business or real estate interests in South Florida, and we handle the Florida proceedings for them wherever the property sits.

Talk With a Weston Partition Action Lawyer Today

If you are stuck in a co-ownership you want out of, or a co-owner is pressing you to give up your share, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your deed, your agreements, and your options. A Weston partition attorney from our firm can explain whether a negotiated buyout, a mediated resolution, or a filed partition case is the right path for you.

Call to schedule a consultation. We answer the phone, and if we are in court when you call, you will hear back within 24 hours.