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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.
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