'All Good Things Must Come to an End': Terminating Co-Ownership Under the 'Old' Partition and Sale Rules

Despite its benefits, co-ownership of land creates problems where relations between the parties<br/>have soured, or one person simply wants to extricate themselves from this arrangement. The<br/>remedies of compulsory partition and sale allow one joint tenant or tenant in common to terminate<br/>co-ownership against the wishes of the others, by seeking a court order to this effect. Throughout<br/>parts of the common law world, this has be en based on nineteenth century English legislation namely<br/>the Partition Act 1868, the key elements of which remain in force in Western Australia,<br/>South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. This article provides an up-to-date<br/>analysis of the law on compulsory partition and sale as derived from the 1868 Act and analogous<br/>provisions, drawing not only on Australian cases, but on frequently overlooked decisions from<br/>courts in both parts of Ireland and in parts of Canada, as well as ‘old’ English judgments on the<br/>1868 Act.