Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Iowa

Re: partition of title?

Partition action would force a sale of the property and the proceeds to be distributed according to a variety of factors.

But shouldn't this issue have been resolved by the Family Court's final divorce decree? In a divorce, the Family Court enters at least one order resolving the sale or disposition of the marital estate. That order should address this issue.

If that's the case, a simple OSC before the Family Court that entered the order should be all that's necessary.

If you need help, please call or email. We do partitions regularly.

Re: partition of title?

That is exactly what it is called, and it may be his only option, unless the divorce decree adequately addressed this situation. Honestly, the divorce decree should have addressed it, and that is the place to start.

Re: partition of title?

You need an attorney officed where the property is located. We can refer you if you wish.

Re: partition of title?

A partition action (in California at least, Iowa is probably similar) asks a court to order the sale of co-owned property and division of the net proceeds, if any, after deduction of prior liens and costs. The court will also order adjustments in the division of the proceeds to account for excess costs (such as mortgage payments) made by one of the co-owners.

The name dates back to when most property was large farms and ranches and there were few restrictions on subdivision; in those days, property was "partitioned" in a physical sense by dividing it into equal-value sub-parcels, one going to each co-owner. That's still done sometimes, but more often partition is accomplished by sale and "partition" of the money instead of the land.

In many partition cases, filing the suit is sufficient to get the reluctant co-owner to settle out of court, so that trial and forced sale become unnecessary.

Here, I agree with everyone else, that the divorce court probably addressed this issue; the starting point would be to review the divorce decree and any orders made respecting property division to see whether this issue was addressed.