Those who have long operated a successful farm may want to pass it on to the next generation. Farmers may dream of their children taking care of the property and working the land together. They may also acknowledge that their farmland is the most valuable asset they hold, which makes bequeathing it to one child an unfair decision.
Those who inherit farmland jointly with their siblings may have a difficult road ahead. They cannot make any major decisions about the property without the consent of their siblings. They have to share practical and financial responsibility for the property. Siblings may disagree about when the right time to sell is or how much work each family member should contribute toward the upkeep of the property.
In some cases, those who inherit land jointly with others may eventually need to ask the civil courts to intervene by initiating a partition action.
What is a partition action?
The civil courts have the authority to make decisions about real property. A judge can remove old easements and outdated liens from title records. They can hold property owners accountable for injuries that happen on their land. They can also sometimes choose to divide or partition a single property into multiple smaller properties to separate ownership interests.
That is typically what happens in a partition action scenario. One of the parties who jointly owns real property asks a judge to split the parcel or otherwise separate the ownership interests of the co-owners. Partition actions can result in one co-owner buying out the others or demanding that the others buy them out of the property.
In a case involving farm acreage, a judge may be able to separate one parcel into multiple separate parcels of relatively equal value. The goal is to end co-ownership obligations that may result in frustration and damage to interpersonal relationships.
Partition actions typically require proof of joint ownership and records about what has transpired during co-ownership. People may need to gather documentation about how they have invested more time or money in the maintenance of the property or may need to present information about how their obligations create hardship.
Discussing challenges – with a skilled legal team – that have arisen with a jointly-owned piece of real estate can help people plan a path forward. Cooperative ownership isn’t always as successful as people might hope when establishing estate plans or choosing to buy property jointly.
