Short answer. Commissioners first take and file an oath to faithfully perform their duties, then view and examine the property after notifying the parties, hear each party's preference and the comparative value of portions, and set apart shares that are most advantageous and equitable given improvements, location, and quality.
What the law says
Before making such partition, the commissioners shall take and subscribe an oath that they will faithfully perform their duties as commissioners, which oath shall be filed in court with the other proceedings in the case. In making the partition, the commissioners shall view and examine the real estate, after due notice to the parties to attend at such view and examination, and shall hear the parties as to their preference in the portion of the property to be set apart to them and the comparative value thereof, and shall set apart the same to the parties in lots or parcels as will be most advantageous and equitable, having due regard to the improvements, situation and quality of the different parts thereof.
Rule 69, Section 4 — Oath and duties of commissioners. Read the full provision →
An oath before doing anything else
Before undertaking the actual partition, the commissioners must take and subscribe an oath that they will faithfully perform their duties as commissioners, and that oath must then be filed in court along with the rest of the proceedings in the case. This isn't a mere formality — it formalizes the commissioners' accountability before any physical division of the property begins, so that everything they do afterward is done under a sworn obligation on the record. That accountability matters especially because commissioners exercise real influence over where property lines are eventually drawn, affecting each co-owner's actual share.
Viewing the property with the parties present
In carrying out the partition, the commissioners must view and examine the real estate itself, but only after giving due notice to the parties so they can attend that view and examination in person. This requirement ensures the physical inspection of the property is never conducted in secret, away from the interested owners, and gives each party a real chance to point out features of the property, such as improvements or access issues, while the commissioners are actually looking at it.
Hearing preferences and dividing equitably
The commissioners must also hear the parties on their preference for which portion of the property should be set apart to them, and on the comparative value of those portions, then set apart the property to the parties in lots or parcels that are most advantageous and equitable, giving due regard to improvements, situation, and quality of the different parts. This hearing step means the division isn't simply drawn up on a map without input from the people who actually own and use the property; their stated preferences and their sense of relative value are factored directly into where the lines are ultimately drawn.
Related provisions
- Rule 69, Section 4 — Oath and duties of commissioners
- Rule 69, Section 5 — Assignment or sale of real estate by commissioners
- Rule 69, Section 6 — Report of commissioners; proceedings not binding until confirmed