Joint ownership is often seen as a restrictive regime. Legislators have thankfully stepped in to prevent deadlocks.
Joint ownership is the situation where several people are, together, the owners of the same property. For a long time, its main drawback was a lack of flexibility: the sale of jointly-owned property had to be decided unanimously.
The opposition or silence of even one co-owner was enough to block a sale — others could not sell a jointly-owned property against their will without a court order. Legislators have thankfully stepped in to prevent such deadlocks.
The unanimity rule is now set aside in two cases. The first, in force since 1 January 2007, applies to the sale of jointly-owned movable property to pay the debts of the estate, decided by co-owners holding at least two-thirds of the undivided rights.
The second exception stems from the law of 12 May 2009, which allows the same majority to sell any jointly-owned asset — movable or immovable — without needing to apply the proceeds to debt repayment.