§ 872.510.Defendants Joined In Action

Partition works best when a single judgment settles everyone's rights in the property at once, which is why this section casts the joinder net wide. The plaintiff has to name as defendants all persons who have or claim an interest in the estate being partitioned -- covering three overlapping categories: interests of record (found in the public records), interests personally known to the plaintiff even if not recorded, and interests reasonably apparent just from looking at the property, such as a visible occupant or an obvious easement.

The sections that follow handle the harder cases this broad duty creates. If the plaintiff doesn't know someone's name, § 872.520 supplies a way to join them anyway. If a person with an interest has died, § 872.530 supplies a way to join their successors. And § 872.550 lets the plaintiff sweep in everyone else with an unnamed, unknown interest when partition is sought as to the whole property.