G.L. c. 241, §§ 1, 2, 14, 22, 25
Partition in Massachusetts — one co-owner can force the sale
A claim in Massachusetts trial courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Partition is how co-ownership ends when the co-owners cannot agree. It is most often used by siblings who inherited a house, by former partners who bought property together, and by unmarried couples who separated.
The right is close to absolute. A co-owner does not have to show hardship, bad faith or a reason. The others cannot refuse. What is contested in these cases is not whether the property will be divided but how the money is split, and that is decided in the accounting rather than in the petition.
What the claim is
You own property with other people, you want out, and they will not buy you out or agree to sell.
Where the right comes from
What a petitioner has to prove
- The petitioner is a co-tenant — a tenant in common or joint tenant, or a qualifying holder of a life estate or estate for years; and
- The property is held in common or in joint tenancy.
That is the case. The petition establishes the right; everything after it is about method and money.
Tenants by the entirety cannot partition. Property held by a married couple as tenants by the entirety is not subject to partition while the marriage lasts — the remedy there runs through the divorce, not through c. 241.
Division or sale
Chapter 241 prefers partition in kind — physically dividing the land — where the property "can be advantageously divided." Commissioners are appointed to make the division and report back.
In practice, most partitions end in sale. A single-family house cannot be cut in half, and § 14 authorises a sale where division would not work. Section 25 confirms the court's full equity powers, including sale.
Proceeds and costs are apportioned under § 22 according to the parties' interests, adjusted by the accounting below.
The accounting — where the money is
This is the substance of a contested partition, and it is why one co-owner with a small share can end up with a large recovery or a large debt.
The court adjusts the shares for what each owner has contributed and taken:
- Mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance paid by one owner beyond their share;
- Necessary repairs and maintenance;
- Improvements, credited generally at the value they added to the property rather than at cost;
- Rents collected by one owner from the property, or the reasonable value of one owner's exclusive occupation — though Massachusetts does not charge a co-tenant for occupying property they have a right to occupy unless they excluded the others or the circumstances make it equitable.
An owner who paid the mortgage for ten years while a sibling paid nothing does not take half. The accounting is where that is corrected, and it requires records.
How long you have to file
There is no limitations period. The right to partition exists as long as the co-tenancy does. Chapter 241 contains no limitations provision, and the right is treated as an incident of co-ownership rather than a claim that accrues.
The qualification is adverse possession. A co-tenant who ousts the others — excludes them, denies their interest, holds openly against them — can start the twenty-year clock in G.L. c. 260, § 21. Ordinary sole occupation is not ouster; a clear repudiation of the others' rights can be.
What has to happen before you file
Nothing. As a practical matter a title examination comes first, because every person with an interest must be a party, and inherited property frequently has owners nobody has identified.
What the claim pays
Division of the land, or the net sale proceeds, apportioned under § 22.
Owelty, a payment from one co-tenant to another to even out a division that cannot be made equal in value.
The accounting adjustments described above.
No damages, and no multiplier. Partition is a division, not a claim for a wrong.
Costs and expenses, including the commissioners' and any surveyor's fees, apportioned by the court under § 22 — and the court may allow reasonable attorney's fees out of the fund in an appropriate case, though there is no fee-shifting provision of the kind other statutes carry.
Which court
The Land Court and the Probate and Family Court have concurrent jurisdiction. Section 2 says so directly: "Probate courts and the land court shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all petitions for partition."
The choice usually follows the facts. Inherited property with an open estate goes to the Probate and Family Court, which is already administering it. A title dispute or a boundary question goes to the Land Court.
Who must be a party
Every person with an interest in the property. Co-tenants, life tenants, remaindermen, and lienholders whose interests will be affected. A partition that misses an owner does not bind them, which is why the title examination is the first step in any inherited-property case.
Common defenses
- The petitioner is not a co-tenant — which turns the case into a title dispute.
- A binding written agreement not to partition, which Massachusetts will enforce for a reasonable period.
- Tenancy by the entirety, where the parties are married.
- The accounting — not a bar to partition, but the way a co-owner who paid the carrying costs protects themselves.
- The property can be divided in kind, where one party wants a sale and another wants the land.
What people get wrong
One co-owner cannot block it. Refusing to sell does not defeat a partition; it only decides whether the property is divided or sold.
A small share is enough. The holder of a minority interest has the same right as the majority owner.
A sale is the usual outcome for a house, because division in kind is impracticable.
Paying the mortgage does not give you the property — but it does give you a claim in the accounting, and records are what prove it.
Married couples are different. Tenancy by the entirety is outside chapter 241.
Every owner has to be found. Inherited property often has heirs nobody has identified, and the case cannot conclude without them.
Where it came from
At common law, joint owners could divide land by agreement and had no way to force the issue if one refused. That left co-owners locked together indefinitely — a workable position for agricultural land held by a family and an impossible one once property became something people bought, sold and mortgaged.
Partition statutes solved it by making the right unilateral, and the reasoning was practical rather than moral: nobody should be forced to remain in business with a co-owner, and land that cannot be sold because one owner objects is land taken out of use.
Massachusetts placed the jurisdiction in the Probate and Land Courts rather than the general trial courts, which reflects where these cases come from. Most partitions are inheritance cases, and the Probate and Family Court is usually already holding the estate that produced the co-ownership.
The near-absolute nature of the right is what makes the accounting matter so much. Because there is almost no argument about whether the property will be divided, all of the contest moves to what each owner has put in and taken out — which is a question of records, not of principle.
Common questions
Can one owner force the sale of a house we all own?
Yes. The right to partition is near-absolute, and the other owners cannot vote it down.
Which court do I file in?
The Land Court or the Probate and Family Court — they have concurrent jurisdiction under c. 241 § 2.
Is there a deadline?
No. The right lasts as long as the co-ownership does, unless a co-tenant has ousted the others and held adversely for twenty years.
How are the proceeds split?
By ownership share, adjusted in the accounting for mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, repairs, improvements and rents.
I have paid the mortgage for years. Do I get that back?
You have a claim for it in the accounting. Keep the records — that is what proves it.
Can my spouse and I be forced to partition?
Not while you hold as tenants by the entirety. That property is outside chapter 241 and is dealt with in a divorce.