The property has sold, and the closing statement shows the net proceeds sitting in an account awaiting the court's order. On paper, each of the two owners holds half. But one of them paid the property taxes for nine years and replaced the roof after a storm. The other lived in the house the entire time and paid nothing to anyone. When the money is released, does each receive the same amount?
Usually not. The deed fixes the starting point, and an accounting between the owners decides where the money ends up. Co-owners tend to concentrate on whether the property will be sold. The accounting is where the financial result is determined, and it is decided by records that one side kept and the other side did not.
What is the accounting in a partition case?
It is the stage at which the court adjusts the distribution of the sale proceeds to reflect what each owner paid toward the property and what each took from it. The court first determines the owners' shares and orders the sale. The proceeds are then held until claims between the owners are resolved. The accounting is governed by equitable principles, which gives the judge room to reach a fair result, and it runs on proof. The owner claiming a credit carries the burden of showing what was paid, when, and for what. A judge may refer the accounting to a magistrate, and many owners resolve it at mediation once the documents have been exchanged.
Which payments earn a credit?
The costs of keeping the property. Mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance premiums, association assessments, and repairs needed to preserve the property are obligations every owner shares in proportion to ownership. An owner who paid more than that proportion is generally entitled to be reimbursed for the excess out of the other owners' shares. The arithmetic catches people off guard. An equal owner who paid all of the taxes is credited with half of what she paid, since the other half was her own obligation. Expenses of personal use, such as utilities consumed by the owner living there, are not shared costs. The period counted usually runs from the start of the co-ownership, so older records matter as much as recent ones.
Are improvements treated the same as repairs?
No, and the difference costs people money. A repair preserves what exists: a failed roof replaced, a broken pipe fixed. An improvement adds something: a pool, an addition, a renovated kitchen. An owner who improves the property without the agreement of the others is generally credited only to the extent the improvement increased the property's value, not for what was spent. A renovation that cost a great deal and added little to the sale price produces a small credit. An owner planning significant work on co-owned property should obtain the other owners' written consent, and their agreement on how the cost will be treated, before the contractor starts.
Does the owner who lived there owe rent?
Not merely for living there. Each co-owner has the right to occupy the entire property, so occupancy alone creates no debt to the others. Two exceptions carry most of the weight. The first is ouster: an owner who shuts the others out by changing the locks, refusing access, or claiming to be the sole owner can be charged with their share of the property's rental value. The second arises when the occupying owner asks for credit. Florida's Supreme Court has held that when an owner in possession seeks reimbursement for the costs of the property, the other owners may offset the reasonable rental value of that owner's use beyond his or her own share. An occupant who demands repayment for years of taxes may see the claim reduced or eliminated.
What about rent collected from tenants?
It belongs to all of the owners. A co-owner who rents the property to third parties and collects the rent must account to the others for their shares of the net income, after the legitimate expenses of producing it. That includes income from short-term rental platforms. The records are usually easy to obtain once someone asks: leases, deposits, and platform statements. An owner who kept the rent for years will find the others' shares deducted from his portion at distribution. Where the property was rented below market to a friend or relative of one owner, the others may argue for the fair rental value instead of the amount collected.
Do contributions to the purchase price change the split?
They can, but that question belongs to an earlier stage, when the court determines each owner's share. A deed that states the shares generally controls. A deed that is silent creates a presumption of equal ownership among tenants in common, and in some circumstances that presumption can be overcome with proof that the owners contributed unequally and intended their shares to match. The argument is harder between family members, where a larger contribution may be treated as a gift, and it is unavailable where the deed creates a survivorship tenancy, in which shares are equal by definition. Anyone relying on an unequal contribution should raise it at the outset, not at the accounting.
How are fees divided, and how do you prove a credit?
Florida's partition statute directs that costs, including attorney's fees, be paid by the parties in proportion to their interests, on equitable principles, which lets a judge adjust the burden when one party's conduct made the case more expensive. Credits are proven with paper: bank statements, cancelled checks, tax receipts, mortgage statements, contractor invoices, permits, and before-and-after photographs. Ask the mortgage servicer and the tax collector for payment histories, which show dates and amounts even when your own records are incomplete. Organize everything by year and by category. A claim supported only by memory rarely survives a challenge. Owners who exchange documented figures early often settle the accounting between themselves and submit an agreed distribution for the court's approval.
Salomon Smith PLLC represents co-owners in partition actions across South Florida, including the accounting that decides how sale proceeds are divided. If you have carried the costs of a property you own with someone else, call (305) 297-1018 for a free consultation, or learn more about our partition practice.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice.