Kansas Partition Law
How To Partition Land Or Homes In Kansas – Know Your Property Rights
When more than one party owns a piece of property, they are considered co-owners and co-tenants. When one or all of the parties decide that they no longer wish to reside in the premises or own the premises, they have an absolute right to partition, or divide, the property. A partition action in Kansas is governed by the Kansas Uniform Statute Family Law on Partition and Exchange Agreements. Partitions in Kansas can either be voluntary partitions, where the parties negotiate and execute a contract concerning the division of the land, or they can be judicial partitions, where the parties commence partition litigation, and the judge orders the land divided or sold.
The means for partition depends on the type of land. Most large parcels of vacant land can be divided through a partition in kind, where a judge physically divides the land between the parties. However, homes and businesses are not so easy to split up, so they usually are subject to a partition by sale, where they are sold at auction and the proceeds are divided by the parties.
In Kansas, the parties can either be tenants in common or joint tenants. Tenants in common can split the land or proceeds between them in accordance with their share of ownership. Joint tenants, however, always own property in equal shares, so the equal shares must also be maintained in partition.
Kansas is a lien theory state, which means that mortgagors and lenders have a lien on a property for any outstanding mortgages. When a home is partitioned, the lienholders must often be satisfied before the property can be divided, exchanged, or sold. If you need to partition a piece of property in Kansas, you should speak with an experienced real estate lawyer to determine your next step.