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Owelty of Partition
Practical Law Glossary Item w-001-4146 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Owelty of Partition
A sum of money that one co-tenant of real property is required by a written agreement or court order to pay to the other co-tenants to achieve an equitable division of property when an actual partition of the property would:
- Be impossible because land often cannot be divided into equal shares.
- Prejudice one or more parties because of the varying qualities in the land.
Owelties of partition are commonly used in:
- Divorces when there is substantial equity in a property, such as a house. The party retaining the property is ordered to pay a cash sum to the other party to compensate it for the other party's lost interest in the property.
- Will probates to compensate beneficiaries for an unequal division of the estate when:
- property in the estate cannot be divided equally; and
- a beneficiary under the will receives a share greater than the other beneficiaries.
The owelty is used to make the portions assigned to each party equal in value.
When an owelty of partition is determined by court order or granted by agreement, and the paying party is unable to make an immediate payment of the entire sum, the amount owed may be assessed as a lien against the property that is effective on the date of the judgment or agreement. The owelty lien is evidenced by a written instrument signed by the debtor that attaches when the instrument is recorded in the county real property records.