Our mom passed away over 30 years ago and deeded the property to the living 9 siblings. 1 of the sibling offered to live in the house. The agreement was in place of rent, they would pay property taxes and upkeep of the property. 1 sibling bought out 4 of the siblings(lowball each of them). The other 4 refused to sell to her. 2 have passed away with no will. My brother and I have helped our 1 sibling(who bought out the other 4) over the years with property and taxes. She passed away 5 years ago with no will. Since then my brother and I have paid the taxes. My deceased sister son is living in the house and refuses to honor siblings agreement. I don't want to sell, but don't want to keep paying taxes while he lives there for free. He is asking for us to buy his 5 shares that are not his(he has 2 siblings as well, neither wants the property). What can I do, I live in Florida.
1 Answer
Lawyer up. Sorry, but there is nothing else you can do.
Figure out who owns what and what it would take to get consensus. Which may involve buying others out, or selling your portion, or abandoning your portion.
How much is the hassle really worth to you? How much is family goodwill worth to you? Only you can make those decisions. But you need a lawyer to tell you what's possible, what it is likely to cost, and how long it is likely to take.
Properties near me have been neglected for decades until enough of the joint owners died off that the remainder of folks who cared could reach consensus. If I was in something like that I'd have given it up as not worth the effort and walked away much sooner.
Joint inheritance is ugly. It's a lot cleaner to either buy people out, or convert it entirely to cash and divide that up, immediately.
