West Virginia Code 37-4-1 – Who entitled to partition; jurisdiction; state as party plaintiff
Tenants in common, joint tenants and coparceners of real property, including minerals, lessees of mineral rights other than lessees of oil and gas minerals and stockholders of a closely held corporation when there are no more than five stockholders and the only substantial asset of the corporation is real estate, shall be compelled to make partition, and the circuit court of the county wherein the land or estate, or any part thereof, may be, has jurisdiction, in cases of partition, and in the exercise of that jurisdiction, may take cognizance of all questions of law affecting the legal title, that may arise in any proceedings.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 37-4-1
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
The state hereafter shall, whenever it is an owner of an undivided interest in any land or real estate, together with other persons, become a party plaintiff in any proceedings by any person entitled to demand partition under the first sentence of this section. Before instituting suit for partition the person entitled to demand it shall notify the proper official who has supervision of the state land and thereafter they shall proceed as they determine best. In all cases resulting in partition or sale the costs of suit shall come from the proceeds of sale. No state official in charge of state lands may refuse to perform his duty in any case where any person is entitled to demand a partition, or sale under this article.