Joint ownership: what a co-owner can and cannot sell
By Bdproperty Editorial Team · Updated:
Where land is held jointly — most often by heirs — each co-owner holds an undivided share in the whole, not a marked-out piece of ground. A co-owner can generally sell their own undivided share, but cannot sell a specific corner of the plot as though it were theirs alone, and cannot sell the other owners' shares. Until a partition happens, by agreement or by court, nobody holds a particular piece. Buyers are frequently shown "their" corner of a family plot that does not legally exist yet.
What is an undivided share?
A fraction of the whole property rather than a defined area of it. Four heirs to a twenty-katha plot hold shares in all twenty katha, not five katha each in a specific place. Every co-owner has rights over the entire property in proportion to their share.
What can one co-owner sell?
Their own share. What they cannot do is convey a specific demarcated portion as though the land were already divided, or deal with shares that are not theirs. A deed purporting to sell a marked-out piece of unpartitioned land is a common source of later litigation.
How does partition work?
By a registered bonton-nama where the co-owners agree, or by a partition suit where they do not. Partition converts undivided shares into separately held parcels, after which each owner does hold a specific piece and can deal with it alone.
What should a buyer do?
Establish how many co-owners exist and what each holds before negotiating. Buying one share of an unpartitioned plot makes you a co-owner alongside strangers, with partition still ahead of you. That may be acceptable at the right price, but it should be a decision rather than a surprise.
Common questions
Can I buy one heir's share of a family plot?
You can buy an undivided share, which makes you a co-owner of the whole alongside the remaining heirs. You are not buying a marked-out piece of ground, and partition still has to happen before anyone holds a specific parcel.
The seller showed me exactly which part is theirs. Is that binding?
Not if the land is unpartitioned. An informal family understanding about who uses which corner does not create a legal division. Only partition does.
Do all co-owners have to agree to a sale?
To sell the whole property, yes — every share has to be conveyed. A single co-owner can deal with their own share without the others agreeing.
Sources: Partition Act 1893 · Transfer of Property Act 1882. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects a transaction with your Sub-Registrar or AC (Land) office.