reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 17 - Restrictions Injurious to Public Interests; Registration of Land; Damages

Section 17. If the land court shall find and determine, after hearing, that the enforcement of any of such restrictions or limitations would be injurious to the public interests, it shall register title to the land free from said restrictions as and to the extent required by the public interests, or, in case of registered land, shall enter an appropriate order therefor; provided, that if the land court shall find and determine that any of such restrictions or limitations, though they ought not to be enforced, are nevertheless valid and have not become inoperative, it shall, before registering said land free from said restrictions or limitations or any of them, ascertain and determine whether any person or property entitled to the benefits of any of such restrictions or limitations may be damaged by the non-enforcement thereof. If so, the case shall be referred to the superior court for the assessment of such damages. Chapter seventy-nine, so far as applicable, shall govern such assessment. The amount of any damages so assessed, with interest thereon from the date of such assessment to the date of payment at the rate allowed by law upon judgments, may be paid by the owner of the land into the superior court at any time after such assessment for the benefit of the persons or property entitled thereto; and, if so paid, the clerk of the superior court shall so certify to the land court, and shall pay the sum so received by him to the parties to whom it has been awarded. If no damages shall be awarded the clerk of the superior court shall certify that fact to the land court. Upon such certification from the clerk of the superior court of the final determination of such proceedings for assessment and of the payment of any damages therein assessed, the title may be registered free from any restrictions, or in case of registered land may be freed therefrom by the entry of such order as may be appropriate therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 18 - Appeal

Section 18. Any party aggrieved by a finding or decision of the land court that the enforcement of any such restrictions or limitations would be injurious to the public interests may appeal therefrom to the supreme judicial court, which may draw from the facts and instruments stated in the record, findings or decision any inferences of fact that might have been drawn therefrom at a trial, and reverse or order such modification of said findings or decision as justice may require. The appeal shall be taken within twenty days after receipt of notice of the filing of such finding or decision, and further proceedings under the preceding section shall be suspended until after the determination of said appeal. If an appeal is not duly prosecuted, the finding or decision shall stand as if no appeal had been taken.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 19 - Petition to Land Court

Section 19. One or more persons holding land or flats adjacent to or covered by high water may apply by petition to the land court for the settlement and determination of the lines and boundaries of their ownership therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 20 - Proceedings

Section 20. Upon such petition the court may by a warrant appoint one or more commissioners who shall, before entering upon their duties, be sworn to faithfully and impartially execute the warrant, and a certificate of such oath shall be made on the warrant by the person administering it. The commissioners shall notify all persons interested, by personal service or by publication as the court orders, to appear at a time and place named and be heard relative to a proposed survey of such flats, and thereafter shall survey the flats of the petitioners and all adjacent flats owned by other parties whose rights may be affected by a determination of the lines of the flats of the petitioners, shall determine the boundary lines thereof and report to the court the boundaries established for each owner, with a plan of the several portions of flats showing the lines established for each owner, which, after its approval, shall by order of the court be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county or district where said flats lie. The proceedings upon such petition shall be according to sections two, four, six, seven and eight of chapter two hundred and forty-one, so far as applicable thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 21 - Report and Plan of Commissioners; Effect

Section 21. When the report and plan of said commissioners has been accepted by the court and recorded as aforesaid, it shall forever fix and determine the rights of all persons and parties, except where definite boundary lines have been established by parties legally authorized to establish them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 22 - Costs

Section 22. The expenses and charges of the commissioners shall be allowed by the court; the other costs shall be taxed in the usual manner, and the whole shall be apportioned by the court among all parties interested in the determination of the boundary lines in such flats, and shall be paid in proportion to the value of the interests which they respectively hold therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 24 - Parties; Subsequent Purchasers As

Section 24. Whoever, during the pendency of proceedings for the division of flats, acquires by purchase, devise or descent, or by the enforcement of a mortgage or lien, an interest or title in or to any flats which are the subject matter of such proceedings, may by order of the court be made a party to such proceedings, and shall be chargeable with such share of the expenses as the court orders.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 25 - Boundaries Determined Concurrently With Registration

Section 25. A petitioner for registration may in his petition request the court to proceed under sections nineteen to twenty-four, inclusive, concurrently with the registration proceedings, and the court may comply with the request, if such compliance seems conducive to justice and the rights of all parties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 26 - Rights of Commonwealth

Section 26. Proceedings under sections nineteen to twenty-five, inclusive, shall not affect any right or title of the commonwealth to any land or flats, unless it consents to become a party thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 27 - Fiduciaries, etc.; Establishing Power or Authority

Section 27. Any person having, in a representative or fiduciary capacity or otherwise, a power or authority created by any written instrument to sell, convey, mortgage or otherwise transfer any interest in real estate may file a petition in the land court setting forth the act or acts which he proposes to do by virtue of such power or authority, and praying that his power or authority under such written instrument to do such act or acts may be established.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 28 - Determination by Court

Section 28. Upon such petition, after such notice as the court may direct, it may determine the existence and extent of the power or authority of the petitioner to do such act or acts, including the existence of the necessity for its exercise and also any other fact or circumstance required for the exercise of such power or authority.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 240 - Proceedings for Settlement of Title to Land › Section 29 - Procedure Under This Chapter

Section 29. Except as otherwise provided, procedure in the land court under this chapter shall be that provided by sections fifteen to twenty-five, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eighty-five and by the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 1 - Persons Entitled to Partition

Section 1. Any person, except a tenant by the entirety, owning a present undivided legal estate in land, not subject to redemption, shall be entitled to have partition in the manner hereinafter provided. If such estate is in fee, he shall be entitled to partition in fee; if a life estate or a term for years, he shall be entitled to partition thereof to continue so long as his estate endures. A life tenant or a tenant for years of whose term at least twenty years remain unexpired may, in the discretion of the court, have partition of the fee. The existence of a lease of the whole or a part of the land to be divided shall not prevent partition, but such partition shall not disturb possession of a lessee under a lease covering the interests of all the co-tenants.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 2 - Jurisdiction; Probate Courts; Land Court

Section 2. Probate courts and the land court shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all petitions for partition. Any petition for partition may be filed in the probate court for any county where any part of the land included in the petition lies, or in the land court for any land within the commonwealth. The petition may include any or all of the common land within the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 3 - Land Within Jurisdiction of Probate Court in Two or More Counties

Section 3. If a case is begun in a probate court and the land is within the jurisdiction of the probate court in 2 or more counties, the court in which proceedings are first begun shall retain jurisdiction thereof, which shall exclude the jurisdiction of probate courts of other counties; but this shall not prevent the probate court in any other county where a part of the common land lies, not included in the original petition, from making partition thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 4 - Extent of Land Partitioned

Section 4. The court may make partition of all or any portion of the land included in the petition of which the parties thereto are co-tenants; but if all of the common land is not included in the petition, the court may, upon request of any party thereto, seasonably filed, cause any other part of the common land to be included, unless a petition for partition thereof is pending in another county or in the land court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 5 - Division of Shares

Section 5. The court may set off to the petitioner his share, leaving the residue of the land for the persons entitled thereto, subject to a future partition; or it may set off to the persons entitled to the residue their respective shares therein. If two or more co-tenants consent to hold their shares undivided, such shares may be so set off.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 6 - Form and Contents of Petition; Interveners

Section 6. The petition shall set forth on oath the nature and extent of the share of each co-tenant, so far as known to the petitioner, stating whether he has an estate of inheritance, for life or for years, whether in possession, remainder or reversion, and whether vested or contingent. It shall contain a description of each parcel of land sufficiently specific for identification. If the common title is derived by will or inheritance from a common ancestor, the name of the testator or common ancestor shall be given; if under a deed, reference shall be made thereto. The petition shall be in the alternative, praying for division of the land or for the sale, either public or private, of all or any part thereof which the court may find cannot be advantageously divided. If a private sale is desired, the minimum sum for which the sale may be made shall be stated. Only persons having legal title to an estate for years, for life or in fee, whether in possession, reversion or remainder, shall be necessary or proper parties. Mortgagees, lienors, attaching creditors and other persons having or claiming encumbrances on the land shall not be parties, but shall be named in the petition and given such notice as the court may order, and shall be permitted to intervene so far as may be necessary to protect their interests in the land or to establish their rights in the proceeds of a sale.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 7 - Notice; Filing; Registered Land

Section 7. Upon the filing of a petition for partition, the petitioner shall forthwith cause to be filed, in the registry of deeds for each registry district where any of the land included in the petition lies, a notice of the same, containing a brief description of the land in such district included therein, and the names of all persons appearing in the petition as parties. If the proceedings are at any time amended, either by the inclusion of more land or by adding new parties, a further notice thereof shall be filed forthwith in the registry district where the land lies. No interlocutory decree for partition or sale shall be made by the court until it appears by affidavit that such notices have been filed. If any part of the land is registered land, the petitioner shall, in filing said notices, comply with section eighty-six of chapter one hundred and eighty-five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 8 - Notice Given by Citation; Contents; Publication; Service

Section 8. Notice shall be given by a citation containing a brief description of the land, and the minimum price in case it is desired to sell the land or any part thereof at private sale. The citation shall be addressed to all known respondents by name, and, in addition, in express terms to all other persons interested. Said notice shall be given to each respondent, whether within or without the commonwealth, whose address is known, by serving the same, either personally or by registered mail, fourteen days at least before the return day; and to each respondent whose address is not known by mailing a copy thereof to the last known address of such party fourteen days at least before the return day, and by publishing the notice once in each of three successive weeks in such newspaper as the court shall order, the last publication to be one day at least before the return day. Proof of service and notice shall be made by affidavit, setting forth the particulars of the service on each respondent, and any other notice given, and if actual notice has been given by registered mail the affidavit shall so state. The court may in its discretion cause further notice to be given.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 9 - Persons Not Personally Served; Absent, Incompetent or Undetermined Parties

Section 9. If any party named in the petition has not been served personally with the citation and has not appeared, or is a minor or under other disability and has no guardian or other legal representative within the commonwealth, or if any person whose name is unknown, or who is unascertained or not in being, appears by the record in the case to have an estate, vested or contingent, as a co-tenant of the land of which partition is sought, the court shall appoint a suitable person to act for him in the proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 10 - Interlocutory Decree; Redemption

Section 10. If it is found that the petitioner is entitled to have partition for the share claimed or for any less share, the court shall make the interlocutory decree that partition be made, and therein determine the persons to whom and the proportions in which the shares shall be set off. The petition shall not be defeated by the payment by a party of a mortgage, lien, tax or other encumbrance upon the land, if the other parties are entitled to redeem from such payment; but the interlocutory decree shall contain such terms and conditions relative to redemption by a contribution on account of any such payment as the court may deem equitable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 11 - Dispute as to Ownership of Share

Section 11. If the ownership of any share appears to be in dispute or uncertain, the court may, in its discretion, without determination of such question, order the partition to proceed by setting off the remaining shares, or by sale. The land not set off, or the proceeds of the share in dispute or uncertain, may be left for the parties entitled thereto in a further partition or distribution in such manner and upon such proceedings as the court may order. The interlocutory decree shall not preclude the parties sharing in the partition from any share to which they may be entitled in a subsequent partition or distribution.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 12 - Commissioners; Appointment; Duties

Section 12. If the court determines the petitioner entitled to partition, it shall thereupon appoint one or more disinterested commissioners and issue a warrant to them to make partition. The commissioners, before entering upon their duties, shall be sworn to execute the warrant faithfully and impartially, and a certificate of the oath shall be made on the warrant by the person administering it. They shall give at least seven days' notice of the time and place appointed for making the partition, either personally or by registered mail, to all known persons interested therein, and shall make and sign a report of their doings and return it with their warrant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 13 - Land in Different Counties

Section 13. If the land lies in different counties, the court may in its discretion issue separate warrants and appoint different commissioners for each county, or for two or more counties together, in which case the partition shall be made of the land in each county, or group of counties, as if there were no other land to be divided.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 14 - Indivisible Land; Partition

Section 14. If a part of the land cannot be divided without great inconvenience to the owners, or is of greater value than the share of any party, or if all the land cannot be divided without such inconvenience, the whole or any part thereof may be set off to any one or more of the parties, with his or their consent, upon payment by him or them to any one or more of the others of such amounts of money as the commissioners award to make the partition just and equal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 15 - Money Awards; Payment or Security

Section 15. If money is awarded to make the partition just and equal, the court shall be satisfied, before the partition is confirmed, that the money has been paid or secured to the parties entitled thereto. Money awarded on account of shares in dispute or uncertain may be ordered to be deposited in the manner provided in section thirty-four.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 16 - Return of Commissioners; Confirmation; Amendments; Final Decrees; Recording

Section 16. The court may after hearing accept and confirm the return of the commissioners, or set it aside and commit the case anew to the same or to other commissioners having the same powers as those originally appointed; or it may, after a hearing, amend the return, and accept and confirm it as amended. After the return of the commissioners has been accepted and confirmed, the court shall thereupon enter a decree that the partition be firm and effectual forever. If the partition is by division, the commissioners shall record a certified copy of the decree in the registry of deeds for each district where any of the land lies, together with so much of the return, as finally confirmed, as relates thereto; or if any part of the land is registered land, they shall in recording the same comply with section 92 of chapter 185.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 17 - Examination of Title, Investigations, etc.; Omitted Parties; Improper Descriptions

Section 17. The court may at any time direct an examination of the title, or the making of a plan, of any land included in the petition, or such investigation relating to the description or title of any of it as seems useful or desirable for its better division or sale. If it appears from the report of a title examiner or from any other source that there are necessary parties, as defined in section six, who were not made parties to the petition, and have not appeared, the court shall, before proceeding further, cause the petitioner to amend his petition by making such persons parties, and to give notice to them in the manner provided in section eight. The court may also cause notice to be given to any encumbrancer whose interest may be disclosed by the examination or otherwise. If it appears at any stage of the proceedings that the land is improperly described, the court may, before proceeding further, require the petitioner to amend his petition by inserting a correct description.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 18 - Conclusiveness of Partition

Section 18. The partition by division, when confirmed and established by a final decree under section sixteen, or the sale if partition is made by sale, shall be conclusive upon all persons named in the petition or interested in the land therein described who appeared in the case or who waived notice or assented in writing to the same, or to whom due notice was given in accordance with section six or eight, or who were represented as provided in section nine, and upon all persons claiming through or under them or any of them, and, if the common title is derived through the settlement of the estate of a deceased person in any probate court within the commonwealth, upon all the heirs and devisees of such deceased person to whom the notice aforesaid was given or who were so represented, and upon all persons claiming through or under them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 19 - Persons Not Named in Petition Claiming Assigned Shares; Partitions by Sale

Section 19. A person who was not made a party and has not appeared, who claims the whole or any part of the share assigned to or left for any of the supposed co-tenants in the decree for partition, shall be concluded by the decree, so far as it relates to the partition and the assignment of the shares, as if he had been a party to the proceedings; but he may bring his action for the share claimed by him against the person to whom it was assigned or for whom it was left. Such action shall be brought against the tenant in possession, as if the demandant had originally claimed the specific parcel demanded instead of an undivided part of the land; and it may be brought within the time in which it might have been brought if no such decree for partition had been rendered. If partition is made by sale, the claimant may recover the share of the proceeds to which he is entitled by action against the persons to whom the proceeds were paid, or, before the payment, by a petition in equity in the court in which the partition was made, to which the commissioner or commissioners and all known claimants of the share shall be made parties defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 20 - Stranger Claiming as Co-Tenant; Remedies

Section 20. A person who was not made a party and has not appeared and who claims part of the land as a co-tenant with any of those who were parties to the action, shall, if the share so claimed was unknown or not allowed and left for him in the process of partition, be concluded by the decree so far as it relates to the partition, but may, subject to section eighteen, bring an action for the share claimed by him against each of the persons holding any part of the land under the decree for partition; and, if he prevails, shall recover against each the same proportion of the part so held that he was entitled to claim out of all the land before the partition. If the partition was made by sale, he may in like manner recover his portion of the proceeds, as provided in the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 21 - Stranger Claiming Paramount Title

Section 21. A person who has not appeared and who claims to hold by title paramount to that under which the petitioner claims as a co-tenant shall not be concluded by the partition, but may maintain his action for the land against any or all of the parties, or persons holding under them, within the time in which he might have brought such action if the petition for partition had not been filed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 22 - Costs

Section 22. The reasonable expenses and charges of partition proceedings, including examination of title and preparation of plan ordered by the court under section seventeen, and the fees of counsel, of the commissioners, and of all agents, guardians and other persons appointed to represent interests in accordance with section nine, shall be determined by the court, and in case of sale paid by the commissioners out of the proceeds; and in case of partition by division shall be paid by the petitioner, who shall be entitled to contribution from the parties to whom shares of the land are set off who take a vested, and not contingent, interest. Such contribution shall be in proportion to the interests of the parties unless the court finds a different proportion more equitable. Costs may also be awarded under section forty-five of chapter two hundred and fifteen. Execution may issue for said contribution and costs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 23 - Improvements; Compensation

Section 23. If the court in which partition proceedings are pending finds that one of the co-tenants has erected any buildings or made other permanent improvements on the common land, it may, if justice and equity so require, award such compensation as it deems proper for the value of such buildings or other improvements, not exceeding, however, the actual amount by which the market value of the common land has been increased thereby; and in awarding such compensation the court may deduct any benefit which the party claiming compensation has received from the common land. The court may make orders and decrees for the enforcement or protection of any such claim, and in case of partition by division may order the improved part set off to the party who made the improvement, and the land divided as if the improvement had not been made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 24 - Improvements Made Before New Partition; Compensation

Section 24. If after a first partition improvements have been made on a part of the land which, by a new partition, is taken from the share of the party who made the improvements, he shall be entitled to compensation therefor, to be awarded and enforced as provided in the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 25 - Equity Jurisdiction

Section 25. The court in which a petition has been brought under this chapter shall have jurisdiction in equity over all matters relating to the partition, and, in case of sale, over the distribution of the proceeds thereof; also to hear and determine all matters of accounting between the parties to the petition in reference to the common land, and to appoint 1 or more receivers to take possession of the common land or any part thereof, and collect the rents and profits therefrom. The jurisdiction may be exercised upon petition according to the usual course of proceedings in that court. Such receiver shall give bond in such amount and with such sureties as the court shall order, and shall distribute the rents among the co-tenants, or otherwise hold or dispose of the same in such manner as the court shall determine by its decree.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 26 - Death of Party Named in Petition

Section 26. If a party named in the petition has died prior to the filing thereof, or dies during its pendency, and such fact did not appear during the proceedings, his heir or devisee shall be entitled to the share of land set off to him or his share of the proceeds of a sale. If his death is made known to the court during the proceedings, the share or portion formerly belonging to him may be assigned or set off in his name to be held and disposed of as if the partition had been made prior to his decease, and his heir or devisee may recover the portion assigned to him, or his share of the proceeds, by appropriate action. The court may, however, in any case arising hereunder, if there has been a sale, order his share of the proceeds to be paid to his personal representatives pending settlement of his estate, or deposited under section thirty-four to await their appointment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 27 - Persons Evicted

Section 27. If a person to or for whom a part of the land has been set off is evicted by one who, at the time of the partition, had a paramount title to that parcel, but not to the whole land, the person so evicted may have a new partition of the remaining land not subject to the paramount title, as if partition had not been made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 28 - Mortgagee, etc., of Co-Tenant

Section 28. A person having a mortgage, attachment or other lien on the share of a co-tenant shall be concluded by the decree, so far as it relates to the partition and the assignment of the shares; but his lien shall remain in full force upon the part assigned to or left for such co-tenant, or, in the event of a sale, upon the share of such part owner in the proceeds, and may be enforced in the manner provided in section nineteen.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 29 - Improvements Made by Person Evicted; Compensation

Section 29. A person holding land under a partition made under this chapter shall, in case of an eviction, be entitled to compensation for improvements made thereon, as provided in chapter two hundred and thirty-seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 30 - Trusteeship, etc.; Effect on Partition

Section 30. The fact that a cotenant is, alone or jointly with others, as trustee or in any other representative capacity, the holder of the legal title to a share in which he has no beneficial interest shall not prevent partition.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 31 - Partition by Sale

Section 31. In partition proceedings the court may order the commissioners to sell and convey the whole or any part of the land which cannot be divided advantageously, upon such terms and conditions and with such securities for the proceeds of the sale as the court may order, and to distribute the proceeds so as to make the partition just and equal. The sale shall be made by public auction, after like notice as is required for the sale of land by an administrator, and the evidence thereof may be perpetuated in like manner by returns filed with the court in which the proceedings are had; or the sale may be a private sale, upon the terms as the court orders, if it finds after notice, as provided in section 8, and a hearing, or after receiving the written assent of all parties in interest, that the interests of all parties will be promoted thereby. If the sale is by auction, section nineteen of chapter two hundred and four shall apply thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 32 - Liability of Commissioners; Partition by Sale

Section 32. If the commissioners, after making a sale in accordance with the preceding section, distribute the proceeds in accordance with the order or decree of the court before learning of any conveyance, mortgage, lien or other encumbrance of or upon the share of any of the joint owners, they shall not be liable to such claimant. If they are in doubt as to the existence or the validity of any such claim against the share of any co-tenant in the proceeds they may ask for instructions by the court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 33 - Attachments or Liens; Failure to Disclose; Penalties

Section 33. Whoever receives any proceeds of a sale of land under this chapter after having sold or mortgaged his interest therein, or with knowledge that it has been attached or liened, without disclosing such fact to the commissioners or the court, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 34 - Unclaimed Proceeds of Sale; Disposition

Section 34. If the proceeds of a sale, or any share thereof, cannot be paid to the persons entitled thereto, the commissioners shall deposit the same in the name of the judge of probate for the county where the proceedings are had, or, in the case of the land court, the chief justice, in a savings bank or other like institution, or in a savings accounts in a trust company, or in paid–up shares and accounts of and in co–operative banks, or purchase with it in the name of the judge or justice a share account of a federal savings and loan association or a savings and loan association located in the commonwealth, as the court orders, to accumulate for the persons entitled thereto. The deposit or purchase shall be subject to sections twenty-five to twenty-eight, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and six, so far as applicable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 35 - Trustees; Appointment; Bond

Section 35. If in any share there are estates in succession, the court making partition may, upon petition of any party interested, appoint a trustee to receive, hold, manage and invest the proceeds of the sale of such share. The annual income of such share shall be paid to the owner of each successive estate for years or for life until it terminates, and the principal, after termination of prior estates, shall be paid to the parties entitled to the fee. The trustee shall, before entering upon the duties of his trust, give to the judge of probate and his successors or, in the case of the land court, the chief justice and his successors, a bond, with sufficient surety and in a penal sum as the court orders, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties, and, upon breach of the condition, an action may, by order of the court which holds the bond, be brought for the use of the persons interested in the trust property, as upon a bond of an administrator.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 36 - Water Rights; Other Incorporeal Hereditaments; Division

Section 36. Joint tenants or tenants in common of a mill privilege, water right, or other incorporeal hereditament may be compelled to divide the same in the manner hereinbefore provided for the division of land. The commissioners appointed to make partition shall set forth in their return the best method of setting off to the several parties their respective shares, and thereupon the court may make such orders and decrees as might be made in equity. If any one of the joint owners so requests, the court shall order a sale, provided that a sale is feasible.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 241 - Partition of Land › Section 37 - Nonnavigable Natural Streams; Partition of Water

Section 37. Under the preceding section, partition may be made of the water of a natural stream, not navigable, the banks of which are owned by different riparian proprietors.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 1 - Waste; Persons Entitled to Maintain; Jury Trial

Section 1. If a tenant in dower, by the curtesy, for life or for years commits or suffers waste on the land so held, the person having the next immediate estate of inheritance may have an action of waste against such tenant to recover the place wasted and the amount of the damage, and such action shall be subject to the provisions of law relative to trial by jury. An heir may bring such action for waste done in the lifetime of his ancestor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 2 - Actions of Tort in Nature of Waste; Persons Entitled to Maintain

Section 2. A person having the next immediate estate of inheritance, or a remainder or reversion in fee simple or fee tail after an intervening life estate, or having a remainder or reversion for life or for years, may have an action of tort in the nature of waste to recover the amount of the damage against the tenants named in the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 3 - Actions in Tort in Nature of Waste; When Maintainable Against Representatives

Section 3. If such action in tort was commenced in the lifetime of the tenant, it may be prosecuted against his executor or administrator or it may be commenced against such executor or administrator for waste committed or suffered in the tenant's lifetime.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 4 - Triple Damages for Waste; Liability of Co-Tenant

Section 4. A joint tenant or tenant in common of undivided land who cuts down, destroys or carries away trees, timber, wood or underwood standing or lying on such land, or digs up or carries away stone, ore or other valuable thing found there, or commits any other waste, without first giving thirty days' notice in writing under his hand to all other persons interested therein or to their respective agents or attorneys of his intention to enter upon and improve the land, or who does any of said acts during the pendency of a petition or other proceeding for the partition of the land shall forfeit three times the amount of the damages assessed therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 5 - Actions for Triple Damages

Section 5. Such damages may be recovered in tort by one or more of the other co-tenants, without naming any one except the plaintiff, one half to the use of the co-tenants who associate themselves with the plaintiff in bringing the action, and the other half to their use and that of all the other co-tenants except the defendant, to be divided among them in each class in proportion to the value of their respective interests in the land.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 6 - Triple Damages for Waste During Pendency of Action for Recovery of Land

Section 6. If, during the pendency of an action for the recovery of land, the tenant or person in possession, with knowledge thereof, commits waste, the demandant, if he recovers judgment, may afterward recover in tort three times the amount of the damages assessed therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 7 - Willful Trespass to Trees, etc.; Damages

Section 7. A person who without license willfully cuts down, carries away, girdles or otherwise destroys trees, timber, wood or underwood on the land of another shall be liable to the owner in tort for three times the amount of the damages assessed therefor; but if it is found that the defendant had good reason to believe that the land on which the trespass was committed was his own or that he was otherwise lawfully authorized to do the acts complained of, he shall be liable for single damages only.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title III - Remedies Relating to Real Property › Chapter 242 - Waste and Trespass › Section 7a - Agricultural or Horticultural Land; Theft or Destruction; Treble Damages

Section 7A. Any person who, without permission, willfully enters the agricultural or horticultural land of another, including, but not limited to, an orchard, garden, nursery, cranberry bog, field, or vineyard, and carries away, takes, steals, mutilates, destroys, damages, causes to be damaged, or cuts any tree, shrub, fruit, berry, vegetable, grain, grass, hay, vine, plant, flower, or any other agricultural commodity defined pursuant to section one A of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight shall be liable to the owner of said land in tort for three times the amount of the damages assessed therefor.