Real estate title glossary
What is partition action?
Definition
A partition action is a lawsuit by a co-owner asking a court to divide jointly owned property, physically or more often by ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds.
Any co-owner can generally force a partition. It is common with inherited heir property, where a single heir can sell or sue for sale of the whole parcel; many states have adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act to add protections.
How it shows up in a title search
A partition suit is usually noticed by a lis pendens, and the court's judgment or referee's deed then appears in the chain.
Guides that go deeper
- Heir Property: What It Is, Heir Property Rights and Why Title Is UnclearHeir property is land shared by relatives after an owner dies, usually as tenants in common. How title gets unclear, what partition law says, what a search shows.
- Lis Pendens: What It Means When You Find One on a PropertyA lis pendens is a recorded notice that a lawsuit affecting title is pending. What it does, where it is filed, how to tell if it is still active.
- Joint Tenancy vs Tenancy in Common: Survivorship, Shares and How the Deed DecidesJoint tenants have a right of survivorship; tenants in common do not. How the deed language decides which one you hold, with the Florida and Arizona rules.
Related terms
Source: Legal Information Institute, Wex: partition. Plain-English summary of general US usage; state law varies, and this is not legal advice.