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Real estate · Partition actions
One house, several owners, no agreement.
Three siblings inherit a parent’s home. One wants to sell, one wants to keep it, and one is living in it. Nevada law has an answer for that.
The short answer
A partition action is a lawsuit in which a co-owner asks a Nevada court to end shared ownership of real estate. The court can divide the land itself where that is practical, or order the property sold and the proceeds divided according to each owner’s share. Any co-owner can bring one, and no co-owner can block a resolution forever.
Who ends up here
- Siblings who inherited a house and want different things from it.
- A couple who bought together and separated without being married, so no family court will divide what they own.
- Former spouses still on title together years after a divorce.
- Relatives or friends who bought an investment property and no longer agree on when to sell.
What the court can do
Dividing the land
Where land can be split fairly, a parcel with room for a lot line, the court can order it physically divided so that each owner leaves with their own piece.
Ordering a sale
A house on a city lot cannot be cut in half. There the court orders a sale and divides the proceeds.
Who paid for what
The shares on the deed are the starting point. The court can account for who paid the mortgage, the taxes, and the insurance, who paid for the new roof, and who has lived there without paying rent. A co-owner who carried the house for years can be credited for it.
Nevada-specific detail
Inherited property has its own protections
Nevada was the first state to adopt the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. When the co-owners are family who inherited, the court orders an appraisal, the owners who want to keep the property get the chance to buy out the ones who want to sell at that appraised value, and if a sale does go ahead the law prefers a sale on the open market to an auction on the courthouse steps. The aim is to keep a family from losing a home for far less than it is worth.
It can begin in a probate
A will that leaves a house to the children equally creates co-owners on the day the estate closes. Families who see the disagreement coming can sometimes resolve it inside the probate, by a sale or a buyout before the deed is ever recorded, which is simpler than untangling it afterward.
What to try first
There are several things to try before a lawsuit. A buyout at an appraised value, with time to arrange a loan. An agreed sale with an agreed agent and an agreed price floor. A written co-ownership agreement that says who pays for what, who may live there, and what happens when one owner wants out. A clear letter that explains, without heat, what a court would order if it came to that. The co-owners are often family, and will still be family when it is over.
When none of that works, we represent co-owners through the action.
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Before you call
Can my brother force the sale of the house we inherited?
In general, yes. With inherited property, though, the owners who want to keep it get the first chance to buy him out at an appraised value.
I have paid the mortgage and taxes for years. Do I get that back?
It can be credited to you when the proceeds are divided.
Do we have to go to court to fix this?
Not necessarily. Co-owners can settle it themselves, with a buyout or an agreed sale.
Where is a partition action filed?
In the district court of the county where the property sits. For property in Reno or Sparks, that is the Second Judicial District Court in Washoe County.