25-10-2026
Kuwait's Partition Reform for Co-Owned Homes: What Owners, Heirs and Lenders Should Know
Decree-Law No. 121 of 2026, published in Kuwait Al-Youm Issue 1814 (pages 2 to 3) on 25 October 2026, adds two items to Article 830 of the Civil Code. Both deal with one situation: a home owned by several people where one of them goes to court to end the co-ownership. The changes took effect on publication and reach cases already in court. Why this matters Many Kuwaiti family homes are held in shares after an inheritance. When one heir wants out and the house cannot be split physically, Article 836 of the Civil Code sends it to auction, and bidding can be limited to the co-owners only if all of them ask. The explanatory memorandum says an auction can leave a co-owner without a roof, and the new rules give the court two ways to prevent that while still paying the departing co-owner a fair value. In this article: 1. Keeping a sole home in co-ownership. 2. Buying out the co-owner who wants partition. 3. Cases already in court. 4. Who should pay attention. 5. What existing law already answers, and what is still open. 1. Keeping a sole home in co-ownership (item 3) Courts already had a general power, under item 2 of Article 830, to keep property in co-ownership for a period they set where an immediate partition would harm the co-owners' interests. The new item 3 adds a separate ground based on one co-owner's housing need. He or she must prove that the property is his or her only home and that his or her money is not enough to buy a suitable one. The memorandum confirms that a house, villa or flat qualifies, and that the court should set the period with the applicant's circumstances in mind. The protection is temporary: any other co-owner can ask the court to end it once either condition no longer holds. 2. Buying out the co-owner who wants partition (item 4) While a partition case is running, any co-owner of the home can ask to take over the share of the person who filed for partition, at the value fixed by a court-appointed expert. Unlike the old auction route, this needs no unanimity. Several buyers may agree how to split the share; if they cannot, it is split equally. Each deposits his or her part with the court by a deadline it sets. A buyer who misses the deadline without an accepted excuse drops out and the others get a new deadline. Once the full price is deposited, the court transfers the share in proportion to what each paid and the case ends. If not, the case continues under the normal rules. 3. Cases already in court Article 2 applies the new rules to every partition case without a final judgment, except where the court had already awarded the property at auction before 25 October 2026. A co-owner facing a pending claim can rely on item 3 or item 4 now. 4. Who should pay attention Heirs sharing a family house are the obvious group. Item 4 also covers flats or villas held as investments, as it applies to any residential property. Lenders and buyers of a share should expect more partition claims to end in a court-supervised buy-out than an auction. 5. What existing law already answers, and what is still open Length of the stay. The five-year cap in item 1 of Article 830 applies only where co-owners are bound by an agreement or other legal act to stay in co-ownership. It does not limit a court order, and neither item 2 nor the new item 3 sets a maximum, so the court decides case by case. In the meantime, Article 845 allows the co-owners to agree on how each will use the property until final partition, and lets the court impose such an arrangement if they cannot agree. Expert costs. Under the Expertise Law (Decree-Law No. 40 of 1980), the judgment appointing the expert fixes the deposit, the party who must pay it and a deadline of no more than a week (Article 2). If it is not paid, the expert need not act and the court may fine the party ordered to pay (Article 5). A party who proves insolvency can be exempted from the deposit for the time being (Article 6), which may matter to a co-owner relying on item 3. The expert is paid from the deposit, and any balance can be enforced against the party who asked for the expert and the party ordered to pay the costs of the case (Article 17). Mortgages. A co-owner's registered creditors must be joined in the partition case, or the partition does not bind them (Civil Code, Article 837). A mortgage granted by all co-owners survives partition or sale (Article 979). Where one co-owner mortgaged only his or her share, a buyer of mortgaged property generally takes it subject to the mortgage unless the debt is paid (Articles 1004 to 1006), so co-owners buying out such a share should settle the position with the lender. Still open: how courts will test a co-owner's means, how long a stay they will grant, and whether a company co-owner can use item 3, whose wording speaks of the applicant's own home. WEFAQ's view: deposit deadlines under item 4 are set by the court and can be short, so co-owners who want to keep a home should arrange valuation advice and funding early, and check for any mortgage on the share being bought. • • • Source: Decree-Law No. 121 of 2026 amending Article 830 of the Civil Code, and its explanatory memorandum, Kuwait Al-Youm Issue 1814, pages 2 to 3, 25 October 2026; Civil Code (Decree-Law No. 67 of 1980), Articles 830, 836, 837, 845, 979 and 1004 to 1006; Expertise Law (Decree-Law No. 40 of 1980, as amended, most recently by Decree-Law No. 149 of 2025), Articles 2, 5, 6 and 17. This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, please contact WEFAQ Law Firm.
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