244Power of Supreme Court to order sale instead of partition

244 Power of Supreme Court to order sale instead of partition (1) In a proceeding for partition of property, instead of ordering partition— (a) the Supreme Court may, on the application of an interested person, order the sale of the property if the court considers that sale (and a distribution of the proceeds) would be more beneficial than partition because of— (i) the nature of the property; or (ii) the number of interested people; or (iii) the absence or disability of an interested person; or (iv) any other circumstances; and (b) the court must (unless it sees good reason not to), on the application of interested people with a collective interest in the property of at least a half share in the property, order the sale of the property; and (c) the court may, on the application of an interested person, order the sale of the property unless other interested people agree to buy the share of the applying person. (2) The power of the Supreme Court to order the sale of property includes the power to order the sale of a part of the property and the partition of the rest of the property. (3) If the Supreme Court orders the sale of property, it may— (a) appoint trustees to receive and apply proceeds of the sale; or (b) give any consequential directions it considers appropriate, including, for example, directions about— (i) the valuation of an interested person’s share in the property; and (ii) the application, investment and distribution of proceeds of sale. (4) In a proceeding for partition of property, it is sufficient to claim sale and distribution of the proceeds and it is not necessary to claim a partition.