Ark Land Company v. Harper
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
599 S.E.2d 754 (2004)
Relevant factsFree
Ark Land (defendant) sought partition by sale of family land it partly owned to enable coal extraction, presenting expert evidence that partition in kind would add several million dollars in mining costs, while the Caudill family (plaintiffs), who had exclusively owned the land for nearly a century, sought partition in kind based on their sentimental attachment; the circuit court, relying solely on the economic-cost evidence, ordered partition by sale.
IssueFree
Whether the economic value of property is the decisive factor in determining whether to partition in kind or by sale.