Land And Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009
Court orders. |
31.— (1) Any person having an estate or interest in land which is co-owned whether at law or in equity may apply to the court for an order under this section. | |
(2) An order under this section includes— | ||
[PA 1868][PA 1876] | ||
(a) an order for partition of the land amongst the co-owners, | ||
(b) an order for the taking of an account of incumbrances affecting the land, if any, and the making of inquiries as to the respective priorities of any such incumbrances, | ||
(c) an order for sale of the land and distribution of the proceeds of sale as the court directs, | ||
[AJA 1707, s. 23] | ||
(d) an order directing that accounting adjustments be made as between the co-owners, | ||
(e) an order dispensing with consent to severance of a joint tenancy as required by section 30 where such consent is being unreasonably withheld, | ||
(f) such other order relating to the land as appears to the court to be just and equitable in the circumstances of the case. | ||
(3) In dealing with an application for an order under subsection (1) the court may— | ||
(a) make an order with or without conditions or other requirements attached to it, or | ||
(b) dismiss the application without making any order, or | ||
(c) combine more than one order under this section. | ||
(4) In this section— | ||
(a) “person having an estate or interest in land” includes a mortgagee or other secured creditor, a judgment mortgagee or a trustee, | ||
(b) “accounting adjustments” include— | ||
(i) payment of an occupation rent by a co-owner who has enjoyed, or is continuing to enjoy, occupation of the land to the exclusion of any other co-owner, | ||
(ii) compensation to be paid by a co-owner to any other co-owner who has incurred disproportionate expenditure in respect of the land (including its repair or improvement), | ||
(iii) contributions by a co-owner to disproportionate payments made by any other co-owner in respect of the land (including payments in respect of charges, rates, rents, taxes and other outgoings payable in respect of it), | ||
(iv) redistribution of rents and profits received by a co-owner disproportionate to his or her interest in the land, | ||
(v) any other adjustment necessary to achieve fairness between the co-owners. | ||
(5) Nothing in this section affects the jurisdiction of the court under the Act of 1976, the Act of 1995 and the Act of 1996. | ||
(6) The equitable jurisdiction of the court to make an order for partition of land which is co-owned whether at law or in equity is abolished. |