Featured News 2012 Real Estate Partition Lawsuits: What You Need to Know

Real Estate Partition Lawsuits: What You Need to Know

It’s hard to share, especially when the asset shared is one that can be split down the middle and divided. When it comes to homes and real estate property, chances are that you can’t draw a line down the middle of a home and properly divide whose is what. When a piece of property involves co-owners it sometimes creates complications that lead to legal battles. These can sometimes be called a claim of partition. In the majority of cases, a claim for partition is when people don’t know how to divide their asset. For example, if two brothers both are joint heirs to a piece of property, and own in equally, then it will doubles lead to complications. One sister will not want to live there, while the other is angry that her partner is moving and leaving her with additional expenses.

In this sort of situation, the one sister may sue the other, saying that she wants her sister who moved out to sell her share of the house to the other sister. In most cases, both parties will get lawyers involved. Usually partition lawsuits will end in a forced sale. One woman would receive the profits from selling her share of the property, while the occupant gains the entire house. These debates can be complicated and feisty. If you plan to involve yourself in a real estate partition lawsuit, you can expect to hire a lawyer and a referee to prepare the property that is for sale. You will also need to hire a broker or auctioneer and retain an accountant to cover the money issues. Each of these parties will need compensation, and that will probably come out of your pocket book if you are the plaintiff.

When you start a partition agreement, the first thing that you need to establish is ownership. You must declare who is the owner of what property and what percentage of property is helped by each owner. This will be invaluable information as you go about your case, so make sure to double check documents to make sure that you have it right. Also, you will want to look at accounting issues that are part of your partitioning lawsuit. If one co-owner has paid more in repairs than the other, it may cause tension in the lawsuit. As well, maybe one extended a loan towards the building. Whatever your issues, an accountant can help to go through the numbers and determine who owes money and who is owed.

You will also want to carefully consider sale. As a plaintiff, are you willing to buy out your relative’s share of the property? If you are, then you can negotiate a price with the help of your lawyer. If the parties can’t agree on a price, then they need to agree to an appraisal process. This will help to establish the value of the house. The person who is willing to sell his or her share should then divide that value in half and pay the other owner at least that much money, if not more. Also, you may want to think about mutual releases. The seller needs to end all ties with the property after it has been sold, and release all other claims in order to conclude the court case. If you have more questions about real estate partitioning and how to start this process, then you will certainly want an experienced real estate lawyer on your side. Talk to a real estate lawyer today for more information about this type of lawsuit!

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