# How to Force the Sale of a Jointly Owned House in Massachusetts | Dunn & Phillips, P.C. > A co-owner who refuses to sell cannot stop you. Massachusetts partition law lets any owner force a sale of inherited or jointly owned property. Springfield and Westfield attorneys. [Canonical page](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/wills-estates/force-sale-jointly-owned-property-massachusetts/) --- - [Home](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/) - [How We Help](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/) - Probate & Estate Planning # How to Force the Sale of a Jointly Owned House in Massachusetts A co-owner who refuses to sell cannot stop you. Massachusetts partition law lets any owner ask a court to order the property sold and the money split. [Call (413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) **Short answer: you can.** If you own a house or land in Massachusetts with someone else and they refuse to sell, you can ask a court to order the property sold and the money split. The legal tool is called a partition action, and your co-owner cannot veto it. You do not need their agreement, their signature, or their permission. The law is Chapter 241 of the Massachusetts General Laws. It applies whether you inherited the property, bought it with a partner you never married, or ended up on a deed with someone who stopped cooperating years ago. Dunn & Phillips, P.C. has handled real estate, probate, and civil litigation in Western Massachusetts since 1988. If you are stuck on a deed with someone, call us at (413) 787-9955. ## Can one owner force the sale of a jointly owned property? Yes. In Massachusetts, every co-owner has an individual right to end shared ownership. One owner out of six can file. The other five cannot block it by refusing to sign or refusing to respond. What the court does with that right depends on the property: OutcomeWhat happensWhen it applies **Partition in kind** The land gets split into separate parcels, one per owner Raw land large enough to divide **Partition by sale** The property gets sold and the proceeds divided Houses, small lots, anything that cannot be split **Set-off (buyout)** One owner pays the others and keeps the property An owner who wants it and can finance it The law prefers physical division and orders a sale only after the court finds the property cannot be divided without economic loss. A single-family home on a quarter acre cannot be cut in half, so with a house, the answer is almost always a sale or a buyout. ## What is a partition action? A partition action is a court case that ends co-ownership of real estate. You file a petition, the court appoints a neutral attorney called a Commissioner to investigate the property, and the court then orders the land divided, sold, or bought out. Massachusetts partition cases go to the Land Court or to the Probate and Family Court. Both have jurisdiction. If there is already a probate case or a divorce case involving the same people, the Probate and Family Court often makes more sense. ## Can a sibling force the sale of an inherited house in Massachusetts? Yes. When siblings inherit a house together, they usually hold it as tenants in common, and any one of them can file for partition. The sibling who wants to keep the house can stop the sale only by buying out everyone who wants to sell. This is the most common partition case we see. The pattern repeats: - One sibling moved into the house before or after the parent died and will not leave - One sibling pays the taxes and insurance while nobody else contributes - One heir cannot be located, or lives out of state and ignores every email - Everyone agrees to sell in principle, and nobody agrees on a price You do not have to prove that anyone behaved badly. You have to prove you own a share. **One thing to check first.** If the estate is still open, or the deed still reads in your parent's name, title has not reached the heirs yet, and probate work has to happen before a partition case can go anywhere. We handle the probate and the partition together instead of sending you to a second firm. ## My ex won't sell the house we bought together. What can I do? If you were never married, partition is your direct remedy. Two people who bought a house together and hold it as joint tenants or tenants in common are ordinary co-owners in the eyes of Chapter 241, and either one can file. This comes up constantly: - A couple who bought a house and never married, then split - A parent or friend who cosigned and went on the deed - Two friends who bought a two-family together - Business partners who took title in their own names instead of forming an LLC There is no separation agreement, no operating agreement, and nothing in the deed saying what happens when it ends. Chapter 241 fills the gap. ## Can I file a partition action against my spouse in a divorce? **No, not while you are married.** Massachusetts spouses usually hold the marital home as tenants by the entirety, and the partition statute excludes tenants by the entirety by name. Partition is not a divorce tool. The Probate and Family Court divides the marital home inside the divorce case under Chapter 208, Section 34, along with the rest of the marital estate. **After the divorce judgment enters, the answer changes.** Entirety ownership ends with the marriage. Former spouses who both stay on the deed hold as tenants in common, and partition becomes available. That matters in two situations. The judgment left the house in both names and now, years later, one of you wants out. Or the judgment never dealt with the property at all. **A distinction that saves months.** If your divorce judgment already ordered the house sold and your ex is stalling, your remedy is enforcement in the Probate and Family Court, not a fresh partition case. Filing the wrong case wastes time and money. Bring us the judgment and we will tell you which one you need. ## My co-owner lives in the house rent free. Do I get rent? Only if the court finds an ouster. Co-owners each have the right to occupy the whole property, so one of you living there alone is not automatically wrongful. An ouster means your co-owner interfered with your right to be there, by changing the locks or telling you to stay away. When a court finds an ouster, it can order rent paid to the excluded owner. Document everything. Texts, letters, the date you were locked out, the date you last had a key. ## I paid the mortgage and taxes alone. Do I get that money back? You can ask the court to order the other co-owners to contribute for money you spent preserving or improving the property, including mortgage payments, real estate taxes, insurance, and repairs that raised the value. The court decides whether they owe it and how much, and the adjustment comes out of their share of the sale proceeds. This is where most of the money in a partition case gets decided, and it does not happen automatically. You have to raise it, document it, and prove it. Bring your bank records, tax bills, and contractor invoices to the first meeting. ## Someone bought my relative's share and is trying to force a sale Investors buy fractional interests in family-owned property, then file for partition to force the whole parcel to auction. If you have been served with a partition petition you did not expect, you are on the defense side of this, and you have moves. You can buy out the filing owner through a set-off. You can ask the court to credit you for years of taxes, insurance, and upkeep you paid alone. You can push for a private sale with a broker and a minimum price instead of an auction, which usually produces a better number. You can dispute the claimed ownership share. Do not ignore the citation. Deadlines in these cases are real, and a party who does not appear loses the ability to shape what happens. ## What property cannot be partitioned? Three ownership structures fall outside Chapter 241: - **Tenants by the entirety.** The statute excludes married couples holding this way. - **Land held in a trust.** The trust owns the land. Your rights come from the trust document. - **Land held by an LLC, corporation, or partnership.** Same problem. Your remedy is in the operating agreement or in business dissolution law. Pull your deed before you assume you have a case. The words on it decide the answer. ## How much does a partition action cost in Massachusetts? Filing fees are small. In the Land Court, a partition case costs $240 to file, plus a $15 surcharge, plus $5 per summons served. Fee waivers exist for parties who cannot afford them. The real cost sits elsewhere. The Commissioner is a paid attorney, and the court sets a reasonable fee for that work, usually paid out of the sale proceeds before the owners get theirs. Add appraisers, brokers, title examination, publication, and your own attorney. Where one owner has carried more than a fair share of the case costs, the court can order the others to contribute. A cooperative case that ends in a negotiated buyout costs a fraction of a contested case that runs to a court-ordered auction. Most of what you spend is determined by how hard the other side fights. ## How long does a partition action take in Massachusetts? The Land Court's own guidance says these cases take several months to several years. Clean title, a cooperative co-owner, and an agreed listing put you at the short end. Disputed credits, missing heirs, and an occupant who will not leave put you at the long end. Many cases settle at the case management conference or in mediation, before a Commissioner ever runs a sale. ## What the process looks like, step by step - **File the petition.** On the court's form, naming every co-owner, every ownership share, and every mortgage holder and lienholder, and asking in the alternative for division or sale. - **Serve and record.** Serve every defendant, publish notice if the court orders it, and record notice of the case at the registry of deeds. The recorded notice shows up on any title exam run against the property. - **Handle missing owners.** After a diligent search, the court can appoint someone to represent an owner who cannot be found. A missing cousin does not stop the case. - **Case management conference.** The judge learns the property and sets direction. Mediation is available. - **Commissioner appointed.** A neutral attorney investigates liens, insurance, and condition, then reports on whether the land can be divided. - **Warrant for sale.** When division will not work, the court issues a final warrant and the Commissioner runs a private sale through a broker, or less often an auction. Parties can ask the court to set a floor price. - **Proceeds distributed.** Mortgages and liens first, then closing costs and Commissioner fees, then the owners, adjusted for any credits the court awards. Once the sale closes, it is final. There is no undoing it. ## How to end co-ownership without going to court Filing is a right, not an obligation, and a negotiated exit beats a court case on cost and speed. Before we file anything, we look at four alternatives. **A buyout.** If one owner wants the property and can refinance, an appraisal and a deed transfer end the whole thing. **An agreement among owners to list.** Sometimes the fight is about price or timing, not about selling at all. A written agreement fixing the broker, the list price, and the price-drop schedule solves it. **A demand letter.** A co-owner who has ignored you for a year often reads a letter differently when it explains what a partition petition will cost them. **Mediation.** The courts run alternative dispute resolution programs, and the option stays open after filing. We will tell you when filing is the right move and when it is an expensive way to make a point. ## Partition attorneys serving Western Massachusetts Partition sits where real estate, probate, and civil litigation meet. One case can need a title exam, a probate filing to move a deceased owner's interest, an accounting of years of payments, and a contested hearing. Firms that do one of those pieces refer out the rest. Dunn & Phillips has practiced all three in Western Massachusetts since 1988. We represent owners filing for partition and owners defending against one, in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties, including Springfield, Westfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, West Springfield, Agawam, Ludlow, Longmeadow, Northampton, and Amherst. ## Talk to us about your property Bring your deed, any probate paperwork, and records of what you have paid. We will tell you what your ownership actually is and what a partition case looks like on your facts. **Springfield:** 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108 **Westfield:** 56 Washington Street, Westfield, MA 01085 **Phone:** (413) 787-9955 [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact) Last reviewed August 2026. Free worksheet - PDF ## Get the Massachusetts Executor's Probate Checklist A stage-by-stage guide to settling an estate in Massachusetts: every filing and deadline, in one PDF worksheet. From a firm that guides executors every week. [Download the worksheet (PDF)](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/downloads/dunn-phillips-executor-probate-checklist.pdf) Saves to your device as a fillable PDF you can complete or print. It is free: no email required. Using this does not make us your attorneys. It is general information, not legal advice. Talk to us Bring your deed and any paperwork. We will tell you what your ownership actually is and what your options are. [(413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) Questions ## Forcing a sale FAQs Can my co-owner stop the sale?Not by refusing. The only way to stop a partition sale is to buy out every owner who wants out, which takes cash or a refinance covering their shares. Do all owners have to agree to a partition?No. Partition is an individual right. One owner can file over the objection of all the others. Can I partition a house that still has a mortgage?Yes. The lender gets named in the petition and notified, and the mortgage is paid from the gross sale proceeds. What if I cannot find one of the co-owners?The court requires a diligent search, then can appoint someone to represent that person's interest so the case can move. Can I partition property held in a trust or an LLC?No. Chapter 241 reaches land held as tenants in common or joint tenancy. Trust and entity property falls outside it. Do I have to hire a lawyer?No. Courts allow self-represented parties, and you will face the same rules, deadlines, and service requirements as everyone else. The credits, title issues, and sale terms are where the money moves, and that is where counsel earns its fee. Will a partition sale get market value?A private sale through a broker generally does. An auction often does not. Parties can ask the court to set a minimum price, and pushing for a private listing is one of the most valuable things a party can do in these cases. These answers are general information, not legal advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Next step ## Talk it through with someone who handles these The first conversation is free and with a real member of our team. [Call (413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) This page is general information only, not legal advice for any specific situation, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Every matter depends on its own facts; for advice on your particular circumstances, talk to a licensed attorney. Published by Dunn & Phillips, P.C., 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108. Responsible attorney: Cornelius W. Phillips, III.