If the issue is determined in favor of the petitioner, or if after notice the petitionee does not appear, or if no sufficient objection is made, the court shall render judgment that partition be made, and shall by decree set off and assign to the petitioner or petitionee their shares according to their respective rights, titles, or interests, and award costs, as the court deems equitable and just. In so doing, with an appropriate pleading, the court may also quiet title in discharge or extinguishment of any right, title, or interest that may otherwise unlawfully or inequitably encumber or burden the real estate as fully and completely as a court of general equity may do. The court shall make such partition as it decrees by metes and bounds or other distinct description. The partition shall be recorded at the registry of deeds for the county where the real estate lies.
Source. 1992, 284:57. 2000, 232:8, eff. Jan. 1, 2001.