Detailed answer — how recovery works in a Georgia partition action

If you and another person inherited a home as co-owners and you have been the one paying property taxes and mortgage payments, you will often be able to seek reimbursement or a credit for those payments in a Georgia partition action. The process and what you can recover depend on several facts: whether the payments were necessary to preserve the property, who benefited from them, whether the mortgage was on the estate or only one co-owner’s name, and whether the co-owner had notice or agreed to contribute.

Key legal framework: Georgia provides a statutory right to a partition (a court-ordered division or sale of jointly owned real property). See Georgia’s partition statutes (Title 44, Chapter 6). A partition action gives the court power both to divide or sell the property and to order an accounting so that payments and expenses are apportioned fairly between the co-owners. For the statutory framework on partition, see the Georgia Code: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/georgia-code/title-44-property/chapter-6-partition.

Typical outcomes the court may order

• Credit or reimbursement: The court frequently allows the paying co-owner a credit or reimbursement for necessary payments (property taxes, insurance, mortgage interest) that preserved the property’s value or prevented foreclosure. That credit reduces what the payor would otherwise owe when the net proceeds of sale or division are distributed.
• Liens or equitable liens: If you paid to protect the property from foreclosure, a court may treat your outlays as giving rise to an equitable lien or priority claim against the property proceeds, especially when your payments prevented loss of the asset.
• Allocation of mortgage principal vs. interest: Courts distinguish between payments that simply service the debt (interest and escrow taxes/insurance) and payments that reduce principal and thereby increase equity. You can typically claim contribution for necessary payments that preserved the property; recovery of principal payments that increased equity is possible but sometimes reduced by whether the payer voluntarily assumed the debt.
• Rents, profits, and occupation credits: If one co-owner lived in the home, the court may offset that co-owner’s occupancy (charge “rent”) against their share, or conversely give the occupying payor credit if they paid taxes and mortgage for the benefit of the other owner.

What you must prove to recover

The court will look for proof that your payments were:

• Necessary: Payments kept the property insured, current on taxes, or out of foreclosure.
• Documented: Cancelled checks, bank transfers, mortgage statements, escrow statements, tax bills, and receipts.
• Made for the benefit of the property (not personal expenses unrelated to maintaining the asset).
• Not already paid by the estate or reimbursed by the co-owner.

Common limitations and defenses

• Voluntary payment defense: If you voluntarily paid another co-owner’s mortgage without asking for reimbursement or without their knowledge, the other side may argue you waived reimbursement—but courts commonly still allow equitable relief if the payments preserved the asset.
• Improvements vs. maintenance: Ordinary taxes, insurance, and necessary repairs are easier to recover. Luxury upgrades may be treated differently—sometimes the payor can recover only to the extent the improvements increased sale value.
• Mortgage holder’s rights: If the mortgage was in one co-owner’s name and the lender forecloses, that process can affect the available equity. Paying the mortgage may reduce the mortgage debt and increase distributable equity, but recovery depends on how the court allocates that benefit.

Practical steps in a Georgia partition case

1. Gather records: tax bills, mortgage statements, bank records, cancelled checks, escrow statements, insurance bills, and correspondence that show you paid and why.
2. Demand contribution early: Send a written demand to the co-owner asking for contribution and offering to account for payments. If they refuse, that helps your partition claim.
3. File a partition action if necessary: The action will ask the court to divide or sell the property and to order an accounting of expenses and credits.
4. Ask the court for an accounting and credit: In your pleading and at the hearing, ask the court to credit your payments against the net proceeds or to recognize an equitable lien if appropriate.
5. Consider settlement or mediation: Partition actions can be costly. Often parties resolve who pays and how proceeds are split without sale—especially if one co-owner wants to buy the other out.

Because outcomes turn on the precise facts and how Georgia courts have handled contribution and equitable relief, you should consult a Georgia probate or real estate attorney to evaluate your records and advise on strategy.

Helpful hints — how to prepare and improve your chances

• Keep detailed records now: Scan bills, mortgage and escrow statements, cancelled checks, bank transfers, and receipts. Create a clear Excel or PDF chronology of payments with dates and explanations.
• Distinguish payment types: Label each payment as property tax, insurance, mortgage interest, mortgage principal, repair, or improvement. Courts treat these categories differently.
• Communicate in writing: Whenever you ask the co-owner to contribute, do so in writing and keep copies. Emails and certified letters help prove notice and refusal.
• Preserve property value: If urgent repairs are needed to prevent significant damage, make them and document why they were necessary. Emergency expenditures are more likely to be reimbursed.
• Get a valuation: Before asking for a sale or dividing in kind, obtain a current appraisal or broker opinion of value to support a fair split and to show how payments affected equity.
• Consider foreclosure risk: If taxes or mortgage payments are delinquent, act fast. A partition court can account for payments, but it cannot undo a foreclosure that eliminates equity.
• Estimate costs vs. benefit: Partition litigation can be expensive. Compare likely recovery to attorney fees, court costs, and sale costs. Mediation or buyout may be more economical.

Example (hypothetical)

Two siblings inherit a house as tenants in common. Sibling A lives in the house and pays property taxes ($3,000/year) and the mortgage payments ($1,200/month) for three years to keep the house from going into foreclosure. Sibling B declines to contribute. Sibling A files a partition and asks the court for an accounting. If the court finds Sibling A’s payments were necessary to preserve the property, the court may credit Sibling A with the taxes and the portion of mortgage payments that protected the property and increased equity. The court could reduce Sibling B’s share of the sale proceeds accordingly, or it could award Sibling A a lien or reimbursement out of sale proceeds.