If I Own Property With My Sister Do I Have to Pay Her Rent for Living on the Property?
Full Question:
Answer:
An action for partition usually arises when there is a dispute as to how to divide property, or in a dispute as to whether property should be sold. One co-owner of real property can file to get a court order requiring the sale of the property and division of the profits, or division of the land between the co-owners, which is often a practical impossibility. Normally, a partition order provides for an appraisal of the total property, which sets the price for one of the parties to buy out the other's half. The amounts claimed for past rent may be settled as part of the partition action.
The following are Texas statutes:
§ 23.001 PROP. Partition
A joint owner or claimant of real property or an interest in real property or a joint owner of personal property may compel a partition of the interest or the property among the joint owners or claimants under this chapter and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
§ 23.002 PROP. Venue and Jurisdiction
(a) A joint owner or a claimant of real property or an interest in real property may bring an action to partition the property or interest in a district court of a county in which any part of the property is located.
(b) A joint owner of personal property must bring an action to partition the property in a court that has jurisdiction over the value of the property.
§ 23.003 PROP. Effect on Future Interests
A partition of real property involving an owner of a life estate or an estate for years and other owners of equal or greater estate does not prejudice the rights of an owner of a reversion or remainder interest.
§ 23.004 PROP. Effect of Partition
(a) A person allotted a share of or an interest in real property in a partition action holds the property or interest in severalty under the conditions and covenants that applied to the property prior to the partition.
(b) A court decree confirming a report of commissioners in partition of real property gives a recipient of an interest in the property a title equivalent to a conveyance of the interest by a warranty deed from the other parties in the action.
(c) Except as provided by this chapter, a partition of real property does not affect a right in the property.
§ 23.005 PROP. Fees
The judge of a court that hears an action to partition real property shall examine the report of the commissioners appointed to partition the property and shall determine from the report and from evidence submitted by the parties the complexity and difficulty of making the partition. The court shall then award the commissioners, and any surveyor appointed by the court or retained by the commissioners, a reasonable fee for the services rendered. The fees awarded shall be taxed and collected as costs of court in the same manner as the other costs in the action
