When several persons own real property as tenants in common, in which one or more of them have an estate of inheritance or for life or years, or when real property is subject to a life estate with remainder over, an action may be brought by one or more of those persons or by the life tenant for a portion of it according to the respective rights of the interested persons, and for a sale of the property or a part of it if it appears that a partition cannot be had without great prejudice to the parties.