§ 901. By whom maintainable. 1. A person holding and in possession of
real property as joint tenant or tenant in common, in which he has an
estate of inheritance, or for life, or for years, may maintain an action
for the partition of the property, and for a sale if it appears that a
partition cannot be made without great prejudice to the owners.

2. A person holding a future estate as defined in sections forty,
forty-a or forty-b of the real property law or a reversion as joint
tenant or tenant in common may maintain an action for the partition of
the real property to which it attaches, according to his respective
share, subject to the interest of the person holding the particular
estate, but no sale of the premises in such an action shall be made
except with the consent in writing, to be acknowledged or proved and
certified in like manner as a deed to be recorded, of the person owning
and holding such particular estate. If partition or sale cannot be made
without great prejudice to the owners, the complaint shall be dismissed;
dismissal shall not affect the right of any party to bring a new action
after the determination of such particular estate.

3. A person entitled as a joint tenant or a tenant in common by reason
of his being an heir of a person who died holding and in possession of
real property, may maintain an action for partition, whether he is in or
out of possession, notwithstanding an apparent devise to another by the
decedent, and possession under such a devise. The plaintiff shall
establish that the apparent devise is void.

4. In the event the estate of a decedent is the owner of an estate in
common in real property, the executor or administrator may bring a
partition action or intervene in a pending partition action on behalf of
the estate if, upon application duly made, the surrogate approves.