- 15 - was either aware of or involved in most of the known sales of fractional interests in Louisiana. He also makes his living from such sales and is well known to lawyers, courts, and others as a resource in situations where fractional interests and/or partition is involved. Mr. Steele evaluates timber and mineral properties on the basis of the idiosyncracies of the ownership and related conditions. So, for example, he may seek out disgruntled family members who own a partial interest and are seeking to sell their interest. In such situations, Mr. Steele has studied the potential for and used partition as a means to make a profit from the partial interest. According to Mr. Steele, those situations require “staying power” because of the potential for resistance by the remaining family/coowners who may resist partition, either in kind or by licitation.4 Mr. Steele had a personal experience where his acquired partial interest was tied up for as long as 21 years. In general, Mr. Steele’s experience reflects that it is not unusual for partition to take as long as 5 years. Mr. Steele’s unique and extensive experience makes him particularly well qualified to address the amount of discount for a fractional interest in Louisiana timberland. Although Mr. Steele and petitioners’ other experts opined, in general, that 4 “Licitation” is a term used to describe the sale of partitioned realty and the division and distribution of the sale proceeds as opposed to partition in kind where the property is divided and distributed to the coowners.Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011