The joint venture, what it is and its management

The proindiviso, which is regulated in the Civil Code, is usually a frequent situation in divorces or inheritances at the time of the liquidation of property. This situation is likely to generate conflicts, so from Palmer Alma Mediterránea we want to review the keys and their solution.

The concept

The proindiviso, also known as pro indiviso, condominium, co-ownership or community of goods, is a legal concept related to the right of property over a good. When a person has the property right over said property only partially, sharing the property with other people, without any of them having absolute ownership

If we refer to real estate, the undivided property is not specified in an exact part of it, but in an abstract share, thus representing the percentage that belongs to each person in the property.

Probable conflicts in the joint venture

When we share ownership of the property with more people, even though the relationship between co-owners is apparently good, a wide variety of conflicts can arise.

• The property cannot be mortgaged, sold or donated without the approval of all co-owners.
• None of them can use the property without the approval of the others.
• It must be managed with the constant agreement between co-owners.

Dissolution of co-ownership

In order not to have to manage the house through frequent agreements, there is the possibility of dissolving the undivided property and avoiding problems between co-owners.

There are several reasons that can generate the dissolution:

• When a co-owner acquires all the quotas or percentages, or all of them are transferred to a third party.
• Waiver of common property.
• Division of property.
• Loss or destruction of common property.

One procedure or another will be followed depending on whether the property is divisible or not.

Divisible:

As long as the common good can be divided without losing its value, the undivided property can be dissolved. In the case of no agreement between the co-owners, those interested in the dissolution may go to the judge so that he is the one who makes the partition.

Indivisible:

If we partition an indivisible good, it will cease to be useful and will lose its value. In this case, the only way to dissolve the undivided property is the sale of the asset, that is, that it be acquired by a third party or that one of the co-owners buys its part from the rest.

As in the previous situation, in case of not reaching an agreement between the parties, it will be necessary to go to a judge who orders the judicial auction. The result would be the same as if the property were sold to a third party, with only one difference: At auctions, the sale price is usually much lower than that obtained by putting the property up for sale on the market. For this reason, it is important that an attempt is made to reach a prior agreement between all the co-owners.

Co-ownership is prone to conflicts, so the best option when managing a undivided property is to have the help of a real estate consultant.

Get in touch with Palmer Alma Mediterránea, a real estate consultant is waiting for you.****