Recent Real Estate Partition Cases in Florida (2019-2025)

Florida cases from August 2019 through April 2025

Real estate partition in Florida is an area of law that doesn’t often change. The most common issues where change is occurring relate to the right to partition and the distribution of proceeds. Below are the most recent appellate court partition cases related to these issues which were decided between August 2019 and April 2021.

Right to Partition Real Estate

Martinez-Noda v. Pascual – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District. – April 1, 2020 – 305 So.3d 321

Headline:  Ex-husband was entitled to credit from proceeds of partition of marital residence for any disproportionate share of expenses since dissolution.

Summary of Issue:  The power of the trial court to deny partition should be invoked only in extreme cases, where otherwise manifest injustice, fraud or oppression would result if the remedy were granted.

Distribution of Proceeds

Patel v. Patel – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District. – August 23, 2019 – 277 So.3d 776

Headline:  Agreed-upon judgment in partition action required trial court to hold evidentiary hearing to determine distribution of real estate sale proceeds.

Summary of Issues:  1) Partition principles are applied in a flexible manner in order to arrive at a fair, equitable, and just decree. 2) Agreed-upon judgment in partition action required trial court to hold evidentiary hearing to determine appropriate liabilities and credits due each joint owner regarding proceeds of sale of commercial real property, which was encumbered by mortgage, although judgment stated that clerk of court was required to sell property free and discharged all claims, liens, and encumbrances of the parties; judgment required sales proceeds to be deposited into court to be divided between joint owners, and judgment stated that court retained jurisdiction to enter orders apportioning proceeds of sale. 3) Because partition is a subject of equitable jurisdiction, a trial court will be affirmed unless it is shown that the trial court abused its discretion in determining whether credits or set-offs are appropriate.

Lupo v. Lawson – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.  – March 18, 2020 – 301 So.3d 366

Headline:  Factual issue as to allocation of sales proceeds between joint tenants precluded summary judgment in partition action.

Summary of Issues:  1) Prior to allocating proceeds from a partition sale, a trial court must first determine each party’s percentage of ownership of the property and then determine the reimbursable expenses incurred after closing and calculate each party’s proportionate share using each party’s percentage of ownership. 2) Prior to allocating proceeds from a partition sale, a trial court must first determine each party’s percentage of ownership of the property and then determine the reimbursable expenses incurred after closing and calculate each party’s proportionate share using each party’s percentage of ownership.

Fernandez v. Marrero – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District. – September 25, 2019 – 282 So.3d 928

Headline:  Joint tenant with rights of survivorship was not entitled to credit from proceeds of property partition for expenses incurred at or prior to closing.

Summary of Issues:  1) In a partition proceeding, there must be an accounting to determine whether each co-tenant has paid his or her proportionate share of the expenses of the property, and to adjust the co-tenants’ accounts accordingly. 2) Boyfriend was not entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the partition of property, which he titled with girlfriend as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, for expenses he incurred from maintenance and improvements he made to property after taking possession, but prior to closing; girlfriend did not execute an agreement or promissory note to reimburse boyfriend for expenses, parties were merely tenants of property’s owner with no legal responsibility for its maintenance when boyfriend incurred expenses, and boyfriend moved into property prior to closing and decided on his own to make repairs and improvements. 3) In a partition proceeding, because the equity of one party should not be increased by the expenditures of the other, a cotenant paying the obligations of the property is entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the sale for the other cotenant’s proportionate share of those expenses. 4) Boyfriend was not entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the partition of property he titled with girlfriend as joint tenants with right of survivorship for paying down payment and closing costs at closing; evidence that boyfriend and girlfriend were in a long-term relationship, and had discussed moving into the property to start a family and get married, combined with the absence of evidence that property was purchased as a business transaction or a loan, created presumption that payments were a gift to girlfriend, and testimony of closing agent, that she had explained to boyfriend the significance of titling the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, and of boyfriend, that the couple purchased the property because they had plans to start a family, supported that presumption. 5) Boyfriend was not entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the partition of property, which he titled with girlfriend as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, for expenses he incurred from maintenance and improvements he made to property after taking possession, but prior to closing; girlfriend did not execute an agreement or promissory note to reimburse boyfriend for expenses, parties were merely tenants of property’s owner with no legal responsibility for its maintenance when boyfriend incurred expenses, and boyfriend moved into property prior to closing and decided on his own to make repairs and improvements. 6) Boyfriend was entitled to credit from the proceeds of the partition of property, which he titled with girlfriend as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, totaling 50% of the expenses he incurred without contribution from girlfriend post-closing, including post-closing property repair payments, payments to reduce the mortgage’s principal balance, and all taxes and insurance.

Martinez-Noda v. Pascual – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.   April 1, 2020  305 So.3d 321

Headline:  Ex-husband was entitled to credit from proceeds of partition of marital residence for any disproportionate share of expenses since dissolution.

Summary of Issues:  1) Upon partition of property held by tenants in common, a tenant shouldering a disproportionate responsibility for taxes, mortgage payments, insurance, and maintenance and repair is entitled to credit from the proceeds of the sale for the other co-tenant’s proportionate share of those expenses. 2) Ex-husband was entitled to a credit from proceeds of court-ordered sale of a former marital residence for any disproportionate share of taxes and mortgage payments made since dissolution; dissolution left ex-husband and ex-wife as tenants in common with equal responsibility for maintaining the property.

Bailey v. Covington – District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District. – April 7, 2021 – 317 So.3d 1223

Headline: Trial court failed to make sufficient findings to support its decision in favor of first co-owner of house on her fraud claim against second co-owner.

Summary of Issue:  Upon the partition of property held by tenants in common, a co-tenant shouldering a disproportionate responsibility for taxes, mortgage payments, insurance, maintenance, and repair is entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the sale for the other co-tenant’s proportionate share of those expenses.

Recent Real Estate Partition Cases in Florida (2022–2025)

Florida cases from January 2022 through December 2025

The most recent Florida appellate decisions on real estate partition continue to focus on two recurring issues: the scope of the partition remedy itself, and the accounting of credits and expenses between co-tenants when proceeds are divided. The cases below represent significant rulings from 2022 through 2025.

Scope of the Partition Remedy

Blew v. Blew — District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District. March 29, 2023 — 358 So.3d 1232

Headline: Trial court lacked authority to partition a marital residence owned as a tenancy by the entirety prior to a final judgment of marriage dissolution.

Summary of Issues: 1) Partition is designed to provide a remedy where two or more persons have separate, and sometimes unequal, joint ownership interests in real property but no logical reason for the remedy exists in the context of a single unit of ownership. 2) A tenancy by the entirety is a single unit of ownership held jointly by a married couple, and it cannot be partitioned while the marriage remains intact and no final judgment of dissolution has been entered.

Morrison v. Smolarick — District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. January 28, 2022 — 334 So.3d 675

Headline: Court was not authorized to award money damages in a partition action the only permissible remedies are division of the property or division of the proceeds of its sale.

Summary of Issues: 1) A partition action commences a legal proceeding to divide cotenants’ interests in real property. 2) Neither the partition statute nor case law provides for an award of money damages in lieu of a credit against the proceeds of a partition sale. Florida Statute §§ 64.061(4), 64.071(1). 3) An award of money damages in lieu of a credit against the proceeds of the partition sale is not consistent with the nature of the partition remedy: either the property is divided or, if it cannot be divided, the funds from its sale are divided. 4) A co-tenant paying obligations of the property is entitled to a credit from the proceeds of a partition sale for the other co-tenant’s proportionate share of those expenses — but that credit is applied against the sale proceeds, not paid as a separate money judgment.

Accounting, Credits, and Expenses Between Co-Tenants

Lee v. Lee — District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. November 30, 2022 — 352 So.3d 420

Headline: In a partition action between former spouses, the trial court must find the value of the residence, order its sale, impound the proceeds, and then conduct an accounting to establish credits before distributing the funds.

Summary of Issues: 1) Upon partition of property held by tenants in common, a tenant shouldering a disproportionate responsibility for taxes, mortgage payments, insurance, and maintenance and repair is entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the sale for the other co-tenant’s proportionate share of those expenses. 2) A former husband who raised the accounting issue in a counterpetition sufficiently preserved that issue for the trial court, which was therefore required to conduct an inquiry into any required credits before ruling on the partition action. Florida Statute § 64.051. 3) In a partition action between former spouses following dissolution, the trial court must make a finding of the value of the marital residence, order its sale, and then direct that the proceeds be impounded subject to an ancillary proceeding to establish credits due between the parties.

Cauble v. Kaczmarski — District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District. September 17, 2025 — 421 So.3d 776

Headline: Co-tenant who surrendered possession of a condominium unit while the other co-tenant rented it out and retained the proceeds was entitled to credit for carrying costs the parties were not in joint possession.

Summary of Issues: 1) In partition proceedings, the trial court must conduct an accounting to determine whether joint owners have borne an equal share of the expenses. 2) The trial court erred in finding that the co-tenants were in joint possession of the condominium unit during the period when one had surrendered possession, the other had begun renting the unit to third parties, retained all rental proceeds, and required the other co-tenant to pay rent to stay in the unit. That arrangement was disproportionate to the non-possessing co-tenant’s fifty-percent ownership interest and did not constitute joint possession. 3) The co-tenant who had exclusive possession and use of the unit and who stipulated through counsel that he was not seeking carrying costs from the other co-tenant was properly credited only for the delinquent carrying costs deducted from the sale proceeds not for the full carrying costs he had paid during the period of exclusive possession.

Seaborn v. Seaborn — District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. June 18, 2025 — 413 So.3d 989

Headline: Brother was not entitled to an award of back rent from sister who exclusively occupied their inherited home for over ten years, because he neither alleged nor proved ouster.

Summary of Issues: 1) A co-tenant in exclusive possession of property is not liable or accountable to a co-tenant out of possession for rent or profits unless that exclusive possession amounts to an ouster or the co-tenant in possession holds adversely to the others. 2) Possession of a tenant in common is presumed to be possession of all tenants until the one in possession communicates to the others that he or she claims exclusive right or title. 3) While the property was held in a revocable trust, any rent payments the sister might have been obligated to make should have been made to the trust — the beneficiaries did not have individual rights to collect rent while the property was under the trust’s control. 4) After the court removed the sister as co-trustee and converted the ownership to a tenancy in common, the brother still could not recover back rent because he neither alleged nor proved acts by the sister amounting to ouster, and the trial court made no finding of any communication by the sister that she claimed exclusive ownership.

Lantz v. Gibson — District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District. December 3, 2025 — 426 So.3d 570

Headline: Ex-wife who had paid taxes, liens, and repairs on the marital home for 17 years while the ex-husband contributed nothing was entitled to credit from the partition sale proceeds for his proportionate share of those costs, even though the marital settlement agreement was silent on those expenses.

Summary of Issues: 1) When an agreement is silent regarding liability for expenses for a home owned in tenancy in common, and no evidence shows that the non-paying tenant furnished consideration to be relieved of the obligation to contribute, the paying tenant upon partition is entitled to a credit from the proceeds of the sale for the other co-tenant’s proportionate share of expenses including taxes, liens, and repairs. 2) The paying tenant’s right to that credit exists unless there is a basis in the record to relieve the non-paying co-tenant of his or her duty to contribute. 3) A marital settlement agreement that excluded mortgage and mortgage-related expenses did not relieve the ex-husband of liability for all other ownership costs where the agreement was entirely silent as to those other expenses and the ex-husband never contributed to them during 17 years of the ex-wife managing and renting the property.

Questions About a Florida Partition Case?

Related:

• Florida Partition Law
• What Happens When Your Sibling Won’t Agree to the Sale of Inherited Property?

These recent partition cases are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Real Estate partition law does change over time. Therefore, we strongly recommend talking with an experienced Florida real estate lawyer to learn your rights.