Inheritance dispute

T

tmcg

Registered User
Messages
14
What options does a person have if they jointly inherit a house with their estranged sibling who refuses to either sell the house or buy out the other persons share.

My husband and his brother have jointly inherited their fathers house. They both have their own houses and their fathers house lies empty. My husband has offered to buy out his brothers share, sell his brother his share or put the house up for sale. His brother is not agreeing to anything. What options are available to my husband if he wants to receive his inheritance.
 
what reason has the brother given to you for not agreeing to your three options?
 
He said he always believed the house would be left to him alone as he is the youngest. No solid reason really, he basically doesn't want to share the inheritance.
 
tmcg said:
He said he always believed the house would be left to him alone as he is the youngest. No solid reason really, he basically doesn't want to share the inheritance.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a classical case of a self-appointed sense of entitlement. The disgruntled one needs to understand that he cannot have it both ways.

On the simple facts there appears to be absolutely no basis whatsoever for the estranged sibling's expectation. However, the sibling could consider an application under S.117 of the Succession Act 1965.

S.117 provides that if the testator (their late father) failed in his moral duty to make proper provision for the "child" in accordance with his means a court might order that such provision shall be made for the child out of the estate as the court thinks just. Link http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1965/act/27/section/117/enacted/en/html#sec117

Although the children in this case are adults the principle can still apply to them. Again, on the bare facts of this case, it would seem that any S. 117 application would be devoid of merit. However, that would not stop the disgruntled one bringing such an application - even if it was blatantly vexatious litigation. The legal costs incurred could well do serious damage to the estate and devalue the net worth of the asset after costs have been paid no matter what orders a court might make in relation to costs.

Another issue is that of the executor. It is the executor's obligation to have the will admitted to probate and to deal with the estate in accordance with the terms of the will. Who is the executor ? If the disgruntled one is one of the executors he is failing in his obligation to deal with the asset in question.

In short, this could turn messy and nasty and litigation should be avoided like the plague because of legal costs. I would agree with the advice to instruct a solicitor to try and press the issue. Sending a solicitor's letter does not oblige you to litigate.
 
tmcg said:
He said he always believed the house would be left to him alone as he is the youngest. No solid reason really, he basically doesn't want to share the inheritance.
Click to expand...

Oh dear. Anyway you have options. First your OH needs a solicitors as posters have pointed out. Might get him to come to some sense. I also suggest that everything communicated from now on is via the solicitor until the brother grows up.

A solicitor should be contacted this week. Time to get things moving as the other three reasonable options were turned down.
 
This is just a too common occurrence with inheritances. One person being greedy thinks that he can take advantage of another family member. It is firstly disrespectful to his father as he is ignoring the mans wishes as dictated in the will and secondly he is trying to rip off his brother.
He probably thinks the brother will do nothing for the sake of the family and a quiet life. Im sure that both families would welcome an inheritance and he shouldnt be let away with this
 
court might order that such provision shall be made for the child out of the estate as the court thinks just
Click to expand...
IANAL and this is very much a generalisation of course; but this sort of claim is more likely to succeed if the adult child has additional needs, be that medical or otherwise, such that they might not be able to support themselves. The other case might be where a parent failed to provide any support during childhood. If neither of those apply, I'd be pretty confident that any reputable Soltr would advise against challenging the will.
 
Has the brother indicated that he intends to contest the will? If not, in the case where the brother refuses to come to an agreement where the house is not sold, then the executor just goes ahead and sells the house and pays out the proceeds as part of the estate.
 
Executor cannot allow the asset to deteriorate, lest s/he be sued by the beneficiaries. If executor is unclear as to his duties, then s/he should talk to a solicitor and either execute the Will, or renounce his executorship. If the Will is clear and there is no possibility of a challenge as mentioned by Directdevil, then the house must be sold and proceeds divided.

On another point, is house insured at present; are all property taxes paid up?

Lastly, given that property prices are rising, any differential in value between date of death and date of sale will be subject to CGT.
 
Yes the house is insured and as the owner was in a nursing home and house was empty for a period, there was an exemption given for property tax. The brother has not indicated that he intends to contest the will. My husband has now contacted a solicitor and will be meeting him next week. Thanks to you all for your help.
 
If the house is being sold make certain you have the Certificate of Exemption for property tax, the certificate to show the septic tank is registered (if applicable), water charges are paid up to date, deeds in order. Without any of those in situ you'll have problems. Good luck.
 
Best option is probably for the executor to play hard ball, and notify the uncooperative brother that he is processing the will and putting the house on the market.
 
We were informed by our solicitor recently that executor can sell assets without permission from beneficiaries. If it's over 6 months since probate was granted your bil cannot contest. We were in a position where the same may have happened but the troublesome beneficiary didn't contest so executor could have sold the house which formed part of estate. Your husband or the executor needs to get confirmation of this but if I were them I'd move quickly. Executor is not a nice job!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top