# Family home left to 5 brothers - one refuses to sell



## Daisydachshund (20 Mar 2019)

Hi just looking for any information on same.  My parents died several years ago and left the family home to all the family members with an equal share.  One family member refuses to sell his share so the house can go on the open market, each family member owns their own home and there is no one living in the family home and it is left idle.  This has been dragging on 4 years now and nothing is being done only legal bills mounting

One of my brothers solicitors is saying that the family member that refuses to sell cannot even be made do same if brought to court, the very same brother is an Executor of the will

Any ways around this or can he be brought to court and ordered to sell his share as 6 of us involved and only 1 refuses to sell for no good reason


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## noproblem (20 Mar 2019)

Is the brother the only executor and is he a solicitor? It's difficult to clarify that from what you're saying here. Otherwise i'm trying to fathom why your brother has several solicitors?


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## peteb (21 Mar 2019)

Multiple brothers.  One has a solicitor.


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## kenneth12 (21 Mar 2019)

Can you clarify if the brother that is refusing to sell is also an Executor?


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## Seagull (21 Mar 2019)

You can apply to have the executor removed. 4 years without settling the estate is getting ridiculous. What is the solicitor's reason why the sale can't be forced in court?


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## Brendan Burgess (21 Mar 2019)

I don't know the answer. 

But this comes up quite often so some legal person must have written an article on the issue. 

The cases I have come across involve the refuser actually living in the house. 

Brendan


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## MangoJoe (21 Mar 2019)

I may be stating the obvious here, but there was never a parent ever who would want one sibling to act selfishly to antagonise and upset all of their other siblings on an ongoing and long-term basis.

If ever the law was to support the wishes of the deceased you'd imagine there'd be a provision or mechanism to deal with this a difficult person such as this - Ideally if they were being vexatious with no regard for others they'd be given certain fair terms or face removal outright.


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## SparkRite (21 Mar 2019)

How was the will worded?

If it stated something like ( which is usual, in my limited experience ), "The house to be sold and proceeds from said sale to be divided equally between my living children". If so, then that is what MUST occur and four years is way over a reasonable time for a will to be executed.
Time to get the executor "ousted" me thinks, the costs most likely will be paid eventually from the estate, which will include the stubborn brother.
Remember, an executor must act in good faith and carry out the wishes of the testator in the best interest of all beneficiaries .
Usually 12 months is regarded as a reasonable time for this to take place.


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## Steven Barrett (21 Mar 2019)

It doesn't sound like there was a problem in the distribution of the estate, each brother seems to have a percentage ownership in the family home. it's what to do with it now. The obvious thing is get the brother to buy the rest of them out. If he can't/ won't, what does he want from the property? For it to go into disrepair and be worth nothing? What sort of rental income would the property get? 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## PMU (21 Mar 2019)

Why should the house be sold? If, as you say, the will “left the family home to all the family members with an equal share”, i.e. there was no requirement to sell the property, and you are a beneficiary, you should ask the executor if your late parents' instruction has been carried out, i.e. ownership of the property transferred to the beneficiaries, and when did this occur. The executor's solicitor should have been able to advise on this. So it's difficult to see why legal bills have been mounting.

If the will stated the property should be sold and the proceeds divided equally between the beneficiaries – this is a different matter.


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## Vanessa (21 Mar 2019)

The house should firstly be registered in the names of the five owners. Each owner can then do as they wish with their share. One owner may wish to purchase anothers share or may wish. to sell their share.
One owner cannot stop the sale if four wish to sell. However if he continues to refuse to cooperate with a sale the others have the option of taking a case to the Circuit Court and getting an order to sell.
He can contest this but would most likely lose. He would then be liable for all costs.
I think the process is called an Order to Petition.


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## kenneth12 (22 Mar 2019)

If the house is registered in the names of the five owners and then sold later, would they not be liable for CGT on the sale proceeds?
Unlike when if the house is sold from the estate when proceeds are only subject to Inheritance tax.


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## MangoJoe (22 Mar 2019)

PMU said:


> Why should the house be sold? If, as you say, the will “left the family home to all the family members with an equal share”, i.e. there was no requirement to sell the property



What sort of use is the notional idea of indefinitely owning 20% of a house you can do nothing with to anyone though?

There'll be a clause added to my will that if any of my kids adopts such a selfish position they can be removed and disregarded from that point on.

There will be great wealth and untold riches at stake - assuredly.


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## PMU (22 Mar 2019)

MangoJoe said:


> What sort of use is the notional idea of indefinitely owning 20% of a house you can do nothing with to anyone though?


 If, as the OP said the will " left the family home to all the family members with an equal share", i.e. did not require it to be sold, you should direct your question to the solicitor who drew up the OP's parents' will.  But, otherwise, Vanessa in post #11 above, has provided sensible advice.


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## MangoJoe (22 Mar 2019)

PMU said:


> If, as the OP said the will " left the family home to all the family members with an equal share", i.e. did not require it to be sold, you should direct your question to the solicitor who drew up the OP's parents' will.  But, otherwise, Vanessa in post #11 above, has provided sensible advice.



It was your reply that I found a bit strange PMU - Granted though I may be somehow misunderstanding some nuance in your original assertion....

Yes it does thankfully make more sense that the 4 remaining people involved can let common sense prevail and force a sale as per Vanessa's post.


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## Bronte (25 Mar 2019)

PMU said:


> Why should the house be sold? If, as you say, the will “left the family home to all the family members with an equal share”, i.e. there was no requirement to sell the property, and you are a beneficiary, you should ask the executor if your late parents' instruction has been carried out, i.e. ownership of the property transferred to the beneficiaries, and when did this occur. The executor's solicitor should have been able to advise on this. So it's difficult to see why legal bills have been mounting.
> 
> If the will stated the property should be sold and the proceeds divided equally between the beneficiaries – this is a different matter.



It doesn't have to state the property is to be sold at all.  It's clear that 4 people want to sell a property that costs them money and is of no benefit to them and one sibling is being thick. So either that sibling buys the out or they force a sale by going legal.


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## PMU (25 Mar 2019)

Bronte said:


> It doesn't have to state the property is to be sold at all.  It's clear that 4 people want to sell a property that costs them money and is of no benefit to them and one sibling is being thick.


The OP said in post #1 that “My parents died several years ago and left the family home to all the family members with an equal share. “. The OP may be less than clear on his post, but this says the property was left to the beneficiaries. It does not say that the property was to be sold and the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries. If what the OP says is correct, the executor has fulfilled his duties if the property is vested in the beneficiaries. Assuming the will does not require the property to be sold, it's really just a family spat. The beneficiaries now have property rights (which may differ if they are tenants in common or have a joint tenancy), and it's not “_being thick_” as you say, for a beneficiary to expect his property rights are respected.  The OP said in post #1, that "One of my brothers solicitors is saying that the family member that refuses to sell cannot even be made do same if brought to court,", which may well be correct.   If the other beneficiaries are unhappy with this opinion, it would be prudent to seek additional advice from counsel, rather than rely on opinions in an open forum.


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## Vanessa (26 Mar 2019)

As posted earlier can make an application to the Circuit Court to have the property sold and proceeds divided equally. This will require the employment of a solicitor, barrister (possibly a Junior and a Senior) by both the four brothers wanting to sell and a separate legal teamby the opposing brother.
He will have little chance of success but is likely to pay all costs especially whers it can be shown that the other brothers adopted a fair approach. The process could take up to three years.
My family had a very similar situation but eventually the opposer ( and his cxxt of a wife) saw sense when the financial costs were shown


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## AlbacoreA (26 Mar 2019)

I don't understand why people do this, do they live in a fantasy world. 

I've seen this close hand as well with close friends and family. Either they can't make a decision or they are slow on realising its a unsustainable position.


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