Westerdale v. Grossman

Plaintiff Wallace Westerdale sought to partition his life estate from those interests held by his sisters, defendants Sarah Grace Tolliver and Ruth Carolyn Grossman (collectively, the sisters). The trial court agreed with Ruth’s contention that the contingent nature of the remainder interest in Wallace’s life estate prevented the partitioning of the land and granted her motion to dismiss. We reverse and hold that a tenant in common, as the holder of a life estate, has an absolute right to force a partition between himself and his co-tenants even when the petitioner’s remainder in his life…