Kentucky Partition Law

If you are a co-owner of property in Kentucky, you have an absolute right to file for partition of the property if you no longer wish to own or utilize the home or the land. In Kentucky, there are two means of effectuating a partition: one can either have a voluntary partition, where the co-owners agree to divide the land between them, or a judicial partition, where the co-owners commence partition litigation and the land is split by a court order.

Regardless of whether the partition is voluntary or judicially-enforced, the parties have two main ways of dividing the land. It can be a partition in kind, where the parties each have their own section of the land carved out, which will then belong to only them. This is generally only used in cases where the land can easily be split, such as vacant land. The other alternative is a partition by sale, where the home or building is sold at auction and any proceeds from the sale are divided between the co-owners.

In Kentucky, there are two types of co-ownerships available to property owners. They can either take property as tenants in common or as joint tenants. Tenants in common own property in whatever share they contributed to the original purchase in, or whatever share they agreed to contractually. Joint tenants, however, must own property in equal shares, regardless of the contributions to the acquisition of the property. In partition, the land must be divided according to the shares delineated in the tenancy.

Kentucky is a lien theory state, which means that when you file a partition lawsuit and Kentucky is the jurisdiction, all liens held by mortgage companies or lenders must be satisfied before the land can be divided or sold.