Short answer. Yes. If the court finds the plaintiff has the right to partition, the parties may make the division themselves by agreement through proper conveyance instruments, which the court then confirms and orders recorded in the registry of deeds; the final order on partition and accounting may be appealed.

What the law says

If after the trial the court finds that the plaintiff has the right thereto, it shall order the partition of the real estate among all the parties in interest. Thereupon the parties may, if they are able to agree, make the partition among themselves by proper instruments of conveyance, and the court shall confirm the partition so agreed upon by all the parties, and such partition, together with the order of the court confirming the same, shall be recorded in the registry of deeds of the place in which the property is situated. A final order decreeing partition and accounting may be appealed by any party aggrieved thereby.

Rule 69, Section 2 — Order for partition, and partition by agreement thereunder. Read the full provision →

The court first orders partition

Once trial establishes that the plaintiff genuinely has the right to compel partition, the court orders the partition of the real estate among all the parties in interest. This order is the trigger for everything that follows, whether the parties end up dividing the property by their own agreement or through court-appointed commissioners instead. That order also implicitly resolves the underlying dispute over the right to partition itself — the parties are no longer arguing about whether partition should happen, only about how it will actually be carried out from that point forward.

Agreement is an available shortcut

The parties are not required to go through commissioners if they are able to work things out themselves once the court has ordered partition. If they can agree, they may make the partition among themselves through proper instruments of conveyance, and the court then confirms whatever division all the parties have actually agreed upon. Because the statute only requires that the parties be 'able to agree,' there's no additional requirement that they follow any particular format for their negotiations beyond eventually memorializing the division in proper instruments of conveyance for the court to confirm.

Registration and appealability

That confirmed partition, together with the court's order confirming it, must be recorded in the registry of deeds of the place where the property is situated, to complete the process formally and give it effect against third parties. A final order decreeing partition and accounting may still be appealed by any party who feels aggrieved by it, even though the underlying division was reached by the parties' own agreement. The right to appeal is expressly preserved at this final stage, so agreeing to a division of the property does not, by itself, waive a party's ability to later challenge the court's order confirming that partition and any accounting that went with it.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.