§ 901 — By whom maintainable

§ 901. By whom maintainable. 1. A person holding and in possession of\nreal property as joint tenant or tenant in common, in which he has an\nestate of inheritance, or for life, or for years, may maintain an action\nfor the partition of the property, and for a sale if it appears that a\npartition cannot be made without great prejudice to the owners.\n 2. A person holding a future estate as defined in sections forty,\nforty-a or forty-b of the real property law or a reversion as joint\ntenant or tenant in common may maintain an action for the partition of\nthe real property to which it attaches, according to his respective\nshare, subject to the interest of the person holding the particular\nestate, but no sale of the premises in such an action shall be made\nexcept with the consent in writing, to be acknowledged or proved and\ncertified in like manner as a deed to be recorded, of the person owning\nand holding such particular estate. If partition or sale cannot be made\nwithout great prejudice to the owners, the complaint shall be dismissed;\ndismissal shall not affect the right of any party to bring a new action\nafter the determination of such particular estate.\n 3. A person entitled as a joint tenant or a tenant in common by reason\nof his being an heir of a person who died holding and in possession of\nreal property, may maintain an action for partition, whether he is in or\nout of possession, notwithstanding an apparent devise to another by the\ndecedent, and possession under such a devise. The plaintiff shall\nestablish that the apparent devise is void.\n 4. In the event the estate of a decedent is the owner of an estate in\ncommon in real property, the executor or administrator may bring a\npartition action or intervene in a pending partition action on behalf of\nthe estate if, upon application duly made, the surrogate approves.\n