Short answer. If actually divided, the judgment describes each party's portion by metes and bounds and vests that portion in that party individually; if assigned to one party on payment, it vests the whole free of others' interest; if sold, it vests the property in the purchasers — and a certified copy must be recorded in the registry of deeds.
What the law says
If actual partition of property is made, the judgment shall state definitely, by metes and bounds and adequate description, the particular portion of the real estate assigned to each party, and the effect of the judgment shall be to vest in each party to the action in severalty the portion of the real estate assigned to him. If the whole property is assigned to one of the parties upon his paying to the others the sum or sums ordered by the court, the judgment shall state the fact of such payment and of the assignment of the real estate to the party making the payment, and the effect of the judgment shall be to vest in the party making the payment the whole of the real estate free from any interest on the part of the other parties to the action. If the property is sold and the sale confirmed by the court, the judgment shall state the name of the purchaser or purchasers and a definite description of the parcels of real estate sold to each purchaser, and the effect of the judgment shall be to vest the real estate in the purchaser or purchasers making the payment or payments, free from the claims of any of the parties to the action. A certified copy of the judgment shall in either case be recorded in the registry of deeds of the place in which the real estate is situated, and the expenses of such recording shall be taxed as part of the costs of the action.
Rule 69, Section 11 — The judgment and its effect; copy to be recorded in registry of deeds. Read the full provision →
When the property is actually divided
If the real estate is actually divided among the co-owners, the judgment must state definitely, by metes and bounds and an adequate description, the particular portion assigned to each party. The effect of that judgment is to vest in each party, individually and separately, the specific portion assigned to them. From that point forward, each former co-owner holds separate and exclusive title to their own portion, and the earlier co-ownership over the whole parcel ceases to exist, replaced by as many separate titles as there are portions described in the judgment. No further deed of conveyance between the former co-owners is needed to make that vesting effective.
When one party takes the whole, or the property is sold
If instead the whole property was assigned to one party upon paying the others, the judgment states that payment and the assignment, vesting the entire property in that paying party free of the other parties' interest. And if the property was sold with the sale confirmed, the judgment names the purchaser and the parcels sold, vesting the property in the purchaser free of the other parties' claims.
Registration completes the process
Whichever of these outcomes occurred — actual division, assignment to one party, or a confirmed sale — a certified copy of the judgment must be recorded in the registry of deeds of the place where the real estate is situated, with the expenses of that recording taxed as part of the costs of the action. Registration is the formal step that finalizes the transfer of title, giving the new ownership arrangement a public record that binds third persons dealing with the property afterward, not merely the parties to the case, and it is that recorded copy a buyer or lender will later check.
Related provisions
- Rule 69, Section 11 — The judgment and its effect; copy to be recorded in registry of deeds
- Rule 69, Section 2 — Order for partition, and partition by agreement thereunder
- Rule 69, Section 5 — Assignment or sale of real estate by commissioners