Complaint For Partition

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ryu88

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Hi,


We have received a complaint partition on a property which has three owners. One of the owners has filed the complaint and the other two (myself included) do not wish to proceed in dividing the house or selling the property. What options are available? What particular field / specialty of law does this come under? What qualifications should I look for in finding a lawyer to represent me.

This is for the state of New Jersey.

Thanks in advance for any help / info.
Ryu
 
It comes under the area of property law or real estate law. The owner that wishes to sell has the option of applying for an order for partition and sale. You have the option of contesting the application. Courts are very sympathetic to orders for partition - they don't like forcing someone to own property. If you want to avoid having to divide the property, see if you can buy out the other owner.
 
Does it matter how much the party initially paid for the property? For example, a property value of 100k, if one party paid 20k, and the other 80k, can one try to pull out of the partition taking 50k?

Thanks for the help guys.
 
It matters. He is entitled to receive his proportionate share of the fair market value. If he contributed 20% of the purchase price, he's not entitled to 50% of the value.
 
Thanks dee_dub for your help, really appreciate it.

Assuming that your previous answer is correct, if one party has paid 0%, and the other 100%, (where the deed has the fathers name and children's name, where father has paid 100%) can the children partition out demanding their share, even though they didn't pay a penny when it came to purchasing the property?
 
Let me back up a minute on my previous answer. My premise was that the persons owned the property in proportionate share to their contribution to the purchase. A 20% purchaser would be a 20% owner and would be entitled to 20% of the fair market value.

Naturally, purchasing is not the only way to acquire an interest in property. In the situation you describe, the father may have gifted shares to the non-purchasing owners. They are still entitled to their proportionate share of the fair market value, despite not having contributed to the purchase.
 
Well the case is this, I bought a house (I paid for the house fully, 100%) and put my two sons and myself on the deed with the intention that if I were to die, they would be the next owners (this is not on the deed, it was just an assumption at the time when buying the house).

One of my sons and I have had a major fall out, he left the house and abandoned us, now in "revenge", he wants to "teach me a lesson" and has filed this case for partition against me and my other son asking for his share of the house.

Now, none of my sons have paid for the house, I did, I paid for all the property, the property tax and everything, my sons helped out on the bills only for the past 2.5 years. Is there no way I can protect my property from this "abuse"? Just because his name appears on the deed, and nothing else, does that mean that he could just abuse the power he has? Even thought the full credit of payment was done by me?

Again, I'm thankful for your advice and information.
 
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I'd start talking to a lawyer. My unstudied opinion: you gifted a share to him, it's his, and he can do what he likes with it. It is ungrateful, but it is within his legal rights.
 
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