Can A Jointly Owned Property Be Sold By One Owner?

Gabriel Katzner - June 5, 2024 - Real Estate
Can A Jointly Owned Property Be Sold By One Owner?

Michael and Jill own a home appraised at $3 million. The home has been in their family for generations. The couple plans to leave the home to their four children when they die. All four children will be tenants in common, and they each will inherit 25% of the interest in the family home. They will have equal rights and obligations to manage the property.

Two of the children, Jeffrey and Laurie, are single and without children. They both live in New York and want to keep the family home. Since it is a large home in a prime location, they plan to subdivide it into apartments, living in two of the apartments. The other two siblings, Mark and Lizanne, disagree with this plan. They both live outside of New York and have their own families. Michael and Jill know their children’s intentions and ask their estate attorney, “Can a jointly owned property be sold by one owner?”

Fast forward 10 years. Michael and Jill are deceased. Their children are meeting with their estate attorney to discuss their options for the family home.

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Can A Jointly Owned Property Be Sold By One Owner?: Options

Option 1: Buy Out a Jointly Owned Property

Since the family home was appraised at $3 million, the value for each of the four siblings is $750,000. Jeffrey and Laurie can buy out Mark and Lizanne’s shares of the house. This may be a good option in this case because Jeffrey and Laurie plan to divide the home into four apartments. They could live in two of the apartments as planned and rent the other two to recoup the $1.5 million paid to Mark and Lizanne for their shares of the home.

Option 2: Sell to a Third-Party

Typically, selling your share of a family home to a third party would not be a viable option. It would be hard to find a third party willing to share ownership in a family home.

However, since this home is to be divided into apartments in a prime New York location, an investor may be interested in buying out Mark and Lizanne’s shares. They can rent the other two apartments.

If you sell your share of the property, you will need to ensure that any mortgage on the property is refinanced to take your name off the title with a quitclaim deed.

Option 3: Ask for a Court-Ordered Partition

A partition action is a legal process in which the court either divides the property among the co-owners or sells the property and distributes the money among the co-owners.

In most cases, a residence cannot be partitioned among co-owners, so it must be sold instead, with each co-owner receiving their share of the proceeds.

Any co-owner, regardless of their percentage ownership, has the legal right to force the sale of jointly owned property through a partition action or lawsuit.

If you choose to involve the court, the court will have the final say in how the property will be divided among the co-owners. This process can become expensive and lengthy.

Option 4: Sell the Property

If Jeffrey and Laurie cannot afford to buy out Mark and Lizanne’s shares in the home or the court determines that a partition is not possible, selling the home and dividing the proceeds is another option.

If all co-owners reach a consensus on whether to sell or keep a property, or if you are the sole owner of real estate, there is no problem. However, when co-owners are divided, the court may need to be involved to either partition the property or force a sale.

Contact your estate attorney to learn more about your estate planning options for keeping a family home in your family while reducing the risk of disagreements among your heirs. Joint or jointly owned property comes with risks.

There is no one-size-fits-all guide to estate planning. If you are interested in discussing your estate plan options, schedule a call with us at 855.631.3457 to learn more about how to protect those most important to you.

Gabriel Katzner

In 2002, Gabriel Katzner, the founding partner of Katzner Law Group received his Juris Doctorate with honors from the Fordham University School of Law. After spending the first 7 years of his legal career
practicing at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, an international law firm based in New York, he went on to found his own firm.

Gabriel Katzner has a track record, along with a vast number of outstanding public reviews across platforms, of working hard on behalf of individuals who need assistance with comprehensive
estate planning services. Finding a lawyer who is knowledgeable about revocable and irrevocable trust planning, guardianship for minor children, asset protection, trust administration and probate,
as well as Medi-Cal / Medicaid planning is extremely important.

Years of experience: More than 17 years
Locations: New York, NY / San Diego, CA



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This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. Furthermore, it has received approval from attorney Gabriel Katzner, an experienced estate planning lawyer with over 17 years of legal expertise.

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