Maine Partition Law
Filing For A Partition Of Land In Maine – How To Divide Property
When two or more people own property jointly, they have an absolute right to partition the property once they decide that they no longer wish to co-own it together. A partition can happen in one of two ways. It can either be voluntary, where the parties agree to the terms for which they will divide the property, or it can be a judicial partition. When partitioning land in Maine, a lawsuit might be necessary if one of the parties refuses the other’s demands to partition.
The land can be divided either by selling the land and dividing the proceeds, or by physically carving out parts of the land to be given to each co-owner, which they then shall be the sole owner of. In most situations, the partition is done by sale. The division of proceeds will depend on the type of tenancy the parties had when they owned the property. In Maine, they could be joint tenants or tenants in common. If they were joint tenants, then they will have to divide the property in even shares. If they were tenants in common, they can divide the property according to the percentage of interest they each originally held.
Maine is a lien theory state, which means that any lender or bank who has a mortgage on the property has a lien for the amount outstanding. Before the property can be partitioned by division or by sale, the owners will need to satisfy the outstanding lien. If you own property in Maine and you would like to partition it, you should speak with an experienced real estate partitions lawyer to determine what your property rights are and what your next legal steps should be.
Free Case Evaluation
Fill out the form below and we will contact you shortly.