If you own a property with someone else, you may not agree on what should happen to it. You want to sell, but the other owner wants to keep it. Without an agreement, you cannot simply sell the whole property on your own.
Ohio law gives you another option through a court process called partition. You can use partition to ask the court to end the shared ownership. The court may divide the property, allow one owner to take it at an appraised value or order a sale if the other options do not work.
Who can ask for partition?
Ohio law allows certain co-owners to end shared ownership through court. This includes tenants in common and survivorship tenants. As a tenant in common, you own part of the property along with the other owners. With survivorship ownership, you share title while you are alive and your share passes to the surviving owners after your death.
To start a partition case, you file a petition with the court of common pleas. The petition explains your share of the property and identifies the other people who claim an interest in it. If the court finds that you have a right to partition, it moves the case forward and appoints a commissioner to handle the next stage.
When can the court order a sale?
The commissioner examines the property to see if the land can be divided without reducing its value. When a fair physical division works, the commissioner separates the land according to each owner’s share.
A different process applies when splitting the land would reduce its value. The commissioner reports that finding and provides an appraisal. You or another party then has the option to take the property at that value and pay the others for their shares. If no party chooses that option, the court may order a public auction at a party’s request.
Reviewing your position before filing
Partition gives you a legal way to end shared ownership when an agreed sale does not work. You may want to review your deed and records that show your share before choosing how to proceed. Those records help you understand the real estate dispute and prepare for court.