Article 633 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
المادة 633 من نظام المعاملات المدنية · الفرع الأول: أحكام عامة لحق الملكية أولًا: نطاق الحق
The article provides that a party to a partition is regarded as owner of the share that fell to him by the partition from the time he acquired it in co-ownership, not only from the date of the partition.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يُعد المتقاسم مالكًا للحصة التي آلت إليه منذ أن تملك في الشيوع.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 633 explained in plain English
This article specifies the date from which a co-owner's ownership of the share that fell to him after the partition begins.
When property is owned by several persons in undivided shares (that is, each has a proportion in the whole property without a specific part being designated) and they then divide it, each taking a specified part, the article regards each party to the partition as owner of the part that fell to him from the time he acquired it in co-ownership, and not only from the day of the partition.
This means in practice:
- That a co-owner's ownership of the specified part extends back to the past, to the date his undivided ownership began, whether that was by inheritance, purchase or otherwise.
- That partition is not treated in this respect as a new transfer of ownership from the co-owners to one another, but as a determination of what each co-owner owned from the beginning.
The article is linked to Article 632, which deals with the warranty of eviction among the parties to a partition if the divided property is evicted for a cause preceding the partition, and to Article 634, which defines rotation of use (muhaya'a) as dividing the use of jointly owned property among the co-owners, which differs from partition that separates the ownership itself.
The article does not detail the effects that follow from this rule in each case, so anyone with a dispute about the date of ownership after a partition would do well to consult a lawyer who specializes in real estate cases.
Practical example
Two brothers in Dammam inherited a farm in undivided shares in 2020, and then divided it in 2024, each taking a specified half. Under the article, each brother is regarded as owner of his specified half from 2020, when he acquired it in co-ownership, and not from the date of the partition.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 633 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
From when am I regarded as owner of my share after partitioning jointly owned property?
You are regarded as owner of the share that fell to you from the time you acquired it in co-ownership, not only from the date of the partition.
Does partition transfer ownership from one co-owner to another?
The article regards a party to the partition as owner of his share from the time he acquired it in co-ownership, giving the partition an effect that extends back to that time.
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The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.