What is a suit for partition?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Here's a text that says, "I own a home with my boyfriend. We split up. He's moved out, what happens now?" I think that what the texter is saying is that both their names are on the deed. One way to look at it would be, okay, he's moved out. If you can afford it, you continue to live there. You typically might pay all the caring costs, principle interest, taxes, insurance, but you got a place to live.

If he wants to sell it and you want to sell it, then you can both agree to sell it and walk away from the closing with your one-half of the proceeds and you can each go your own way. What I do want you to know is that if you want to continue to live there, but your former boyfriend wants to sell it, in the state of Florida, whenever you have two or more owners of a piece of property, any one of them can force the sale through a suit for partition.

If you co-own property with somebody in Florida and you want to sell, you want to cash out, you can do a suit for partition. There is no defense to it. It's going to be granted by the court.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Yes, because the court does not want to have any restraint on property and having that property be able to be bought and sold.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Chris, in all my years of law practice, I had plenty of people that come say, "Tom, I co-own property with somebody. I want to sell it. They don't want to sell it, or we're not talking. We're not cooperating, whatever." I usually start by writing a demand letter to the other owner and saying, "Look, unless you cooperate with us to sell this piece of property, we're going to file a suit for partition and the court's going to order that it be sold. There is no defense to it. You cannot stop it from happening.

By the way, when this property gets sold, the first thing that's going to happen with the proceeds is they're going to pay my attorney's fees and court costs. You're going to end up paying one-half of that for nothing." Usually, that, in and of itself, gets people to turn around understanding that there's nothing they can do about it. They might as well work together and save attorney's fees and court costs.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Exactly. You're right, Tom. That, in and of itself, even if they had been arguing and not agreeing on what to do and as far as selling it or keeping it together, usually letting them know about the cost for a suit for partition, that in and of itself, is what prompts them to come together on a conclusion. Whatever that may be for them. You're absolutely right. Again, of course, it's a shame, but the idea is that the law has a remedy for that situation when anybody cannot decide about selling property they're not agreeing. That remedy is the suit for partition.