What does an action for division of co-owned property involve and how long does it take?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It is the court action in which a co-owner asks the judge to end the co-ownership because there is no agreement with the others. Before suing, an attempt must be made to reach that agreement and, if it fails, the claim goes through the “juicio verbal”, the simplest procedure, even if the asset is worth a great deal. The judge decides, with the help of the experts, whether the asset can be divided. If it cannot, as is almost always the case with a flat, it is allocated to the co-owner who wants it, who pays the others their share, or it is sold and the price is shared out. There are no official figures on how long it lasts, because it depends on the court and on what is in dispute. The claim Since 3 April 2025, before suing you must try to reach an agreement, for example through a written proposal or mediation. If this has not been attempted, the court will not admit the claim. The claim is filed with the court for the place where the property is located, with a lawyer and a court agent (“procurador”). It always goes through the “juicio verbal”, whatever the value of the asset. An expert report is filed with the claim, stating how much the asset is worth and whether it can be divided. The other co-owners can file their own. What the judge decides The judgment declares the co-ownership ended and states whether or not the asset can be divided. To decide this, the courts look at three things: Whether it can be physically split. Whether the resulting parts would be fit for their purpose. Whether dividing it would mean losing a lot of value. The judge is not obliged to accept the method of division proposed by any of the parties. In the case explained in the publication, the owner of half of a building wanted to divide it into flats without sharing them out, so that everyone would remain owners of everything. The court declared it indivisible, because there were not enough flats to give each owner their due according to their share, major works would be needed and the resulting flats would be worth less. Nor did the municipal licence to divide it, which that co-owner produced before the hearing, change matters, because it solved a planning problem and not the division between the owners. If the asset is indivisible, the law lays down what happens next, when the judgment is enforced: It is allocated to the co-owner who wants it, who pays the others the value of their share as set by the experts. If several want it, the one with the largest share keeps it and, with equal shares, it is decided by drawing lots. If nobody wants it, it is sold and the price is shared out. It is normally sold at a court auction, unless the owners agree on another way of selling it. How long it takes There are no official statistics on the length of this particular type of action. It depends on the court's workload and on whether it is disputed that the asset can be divided, because the case then revolves around the experts. As a reference, in the case explained in the publication the claim was filed in 2024 and the hearing took place in July 2025, with judgment given that same month. After the judgment comes enforcement. If a sale at auction is needed, several more months may pass. An agreement during the proceedings, for example to sell together, shortens them and usually achieves a better price than an auction. In the rest of Spain the action is the same, but if nobody keeps the asset by agreement, it is sold.