# Sister wants to sell her 1/15 share of parental home



## Beanie (28 Jul 2005)

Short story version, father passed away without leaving a will. The only asset he left was the family house. Under current law my mother is entitled to 2/3 of the house and the other 1/3 is divided among the 5 siblings giving them 1/15 share of the house. My sister wants to cash in her share in order to buy her own house. My mother doesnt want to sell the house, so the family members will have to buy my sisters share. Is there a law to say she is entitled to the cash equivalent or is it basically up to us to decide if we want to buy her out? Her 1/15 share is valued at 75K, we could remortgage the family house but as my mother is a pensioner she has little or no income and the rest of us have mortages to pay so not sure if a remortgage is a viable option. Are there any other options we could look at? 
On a different note if the siblings decided to give their 1/15 share of the house back to their mother, will his being seen as a gift and will she be liabale for tax on this?


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## jhegarty (28 Jul 2005)

Beanie said:
			
		

> Short story version, father passed away without leaving a will. The only asset he left was the family house. Under current law my mother is entitled to 2/3 of the house and the other 1/3 is divided among the 5 siblings giving them 1/15 share of the house. My sister wants to cash in her share in order to buy her own house. My mother doesnt want to sell the house, so the family members will have to buy my sisters share. Is there a law to say she is entitled to the cash equivalent or is it basically up to us to decide if we want to buy her out? Her 1/15 share is valued at 75K, we could remortgage the family house but as my mother is a pensioner she has little or no income and the rest of us have mortages to pay so not sure if a remortgage is a viable option. Are there any other options we could look at?
> On a different note if the siblings decided to give their 1/15 share of the house back to their mother, will his being seen as a gift and will she be liabale for tax on this?



don't know about if she can force a sale... she is a very small holder in the asset... but I think a clip round the ear would do her some good....


as for the gift tax, it would apply...

A threshold of 46,673 euro applies to gifts/inheritances made by a person to his/her parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, or grandchild.


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## Thirsty (28 Jul 2005)

On another note if the property is currently valued at 1.2m (€75k * 15) and your sister takes her inhertiance now she is losing out on a potentially higher inheritance when your mother passes away (sorry if this sounds blunt).

An alternative is that between you lend her a deposit which will get her on the housing ladder; the loan to be repaid from her share of the eventual inheritance at an agreed interest rate.  This agreement obviously will have to be drawn up by a Soltr.

Anything which avoids a family row over inheritance has to be worth trying.


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## MOB (28 Jul 2005)

"On a different note if the siblings decided to give their 1/15 share of the house back to their mother, will his being seen as a gift and will she be liabale for tax on this?"

It is a gift, but there will be no tax liability, as your mother lives in the house and assuming she owns no other house.  

 If it was unanimous (i.e. all five siblings agreeing) it could also be done by way of disclaimer, instead of by transferring shares to your mother.  This would have a much lower transaction cost.  Your solicitor should be able to advise - this is relatively standard stuff.


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## Brendan Burgess (28 Jul 2005)

What age is your mother? She may be able to get a life loan from Bank of Ireland which would allow her to pay off the daughter who needs the deposit. An ordinary mortgage or remortgage of the children's homes would be better. 

I doubt if the daughter could force a sale, as it is the family home, but it's always best to try to keep everyone happy.


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## Beanie (29 Jul 2005)

Thanks Guys some interseting comments. Clip around the ear! We've tried that! I suppose for my sister she sees that we are all on the property ladder and her only way getting there is to sell her share of the family house and have a nice deposit.

Brendan, my mother is 69 she sees the house as her home until the day comes when she can no longer manage it. We thought about selling the house to the bank but you do get screwed that way, dont you?

Make a WILL this week if you dont have one. Theres so many problems when there isnt and every family member will have a different reaction to assets that are left. My father is from that generation that would have left everything to his wife. We tried to get him to make one but he thought it was too morbid and it wasnt open for discussion.


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## Brendan Burgess (30 Jul 2005)

Hi

Your mother can get a life loan from the bank of Ireland for the €75k required. The interest will be rolled up at around 6%. It appears high compared to the variable rate of 3% at present. But it is a fixed rate loan for an indeterminate period, so it's bound to be more expensive.

Brendan


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## bacchus (15 Aug 2005)

Hi Beanie, 
1- Amazing how disrespectful some children could be!!
2 - In the event of a sale, your mother should deduct from your sister's slice of the cake , how much she has spent over the last 20/25/whatever .... years to bring her up 
3- if your sister manages to force the sale (but i do not think she can), tell her that she would have to pay all the fees for selling existing property and buying new property that your mother would have to pay... she may change her mind..

This is not a very good contribution to your problem, but never know... could be used during a a straight talk with your sister.

Is she ready to go to solicitor to get advice on this???? so freightening her may be a way of keeping her quiet and well behave once in her life time...

BTW, make sure she is being left out of the will and replace by the family pet


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## jhegarty (15 Aug 2005)

try telling her about 100% morgages... she won't need the money for a deposit....


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## Allen (17 Aug 2005)

Is a widow not entitled to remain in her home on the death of her husband. If it was a divorce she would usually be considered to be a part owner of the house anyway. In that case she would own half the house and be entitled to 2/3 of the rest of the house on the death of her husband?
(This is a question not based on any legal knowledge)


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## foxylady (24 Aug 2005)

Beanie said:
			
		

> Thanks Guys some interseting comments. Clip around the ear! We've tried that! I suppose for my sister she sees that we are all on the property ladder and her only way getting there is to sell her share of the family house and have a nice deposit.
> 
> Brendan, my mother is 69 she sees the house as her home until the day comes when she can no longer manage it. We thought about selling the house to the bank but you do get screwed that way, dont you?
> 
> Make a WILL this week if you dont have one. Theres so many problems when there isnt and every family member will have a different reaction to assets that are left. My father is from that generation that would have left everything to his wife. We tried to get him to make one but he thought it was too morbid and it wasnt open for discussion.


 


My father passed a way several years ago and the 1/3 that goes the kids was immediately signed over to my mother even though I was trying to get on the property ladder. There was no question of looking for money for my share. Some people are so selfish and I dont think ur mother should have to get a loan to buy out your sister after all it is 1/15 and the rest of you could sign back over ur interests to your mother. I'm sure she would have no legal obligations at all to buy out your siblings share


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## Beanie (25 Aug 2005)

I agree foxylady but I know from people I work with its not uncommon for siblings to want their share or even contest the will. I suppose property is worth so much these days. Was there any tax implications on signing over your share to your mother?


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## Vanilla (25 Aug 2005)

In relation to tax implications- it really depends on how it is done, but there would be tax issues. It would depend on the value of the house and so on. 

As you said Beanie, I hope everyone who reads the thread makes a will. This type of thing is very common, sadly.


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