need help on will left by mother?

Question

my mother left a will stating me as executor or representative of her estate== since the will states both my brother and me as equal owners-- can my brother force me to sell estate for his interest in the estate? i have maintained the estate for 4 years and paid yearly taxes. everything has been kept up and my work has actually increased value of property.any help is appreciated

Answer 1

As the excutor representative, you have managerial power over the estate. While your brother owns 50% of the estate, it is up to you how to resolve the estate - in this case, whether to sell the property or not.

He does not have the power to force a sale, but this has obviously caused a big friction between you and your brother. In this case, it is a losing hand... you gain nothing you didn't already own and you can permanently damage the relationship with your brother. Remember, money makes people weird.

You can do what you want with the estate. But as an option, you can sell the house out of the estate to you and use the house as collateral to get a mortgage equal to 50% (or more) of the house. Your brother gets his cash and you get to keep the house to turn it into a win-win situation.

The sole thing I would be concerned about is objectivity. I would talk to my brother, ASK (rather than tell) him what he thinks about the sale to you, tell him you are going to get a third-party assessor to the value and use that as your transfer price. If he doesn't trust you as trustee getting an impartial assessor, then you can hire a third party (e.g. lawyer) to act as an impartial hiring agent.

If that doesn't work for you, you can always scuttle your relationship with your brother and just manage the estate the way you want.

Just remember... what would your mother want?

Answer 2

You did not mention that your mother's will had been through probate court or not. If you have not gone through probate the property is still in your mother's name on the deed recorded at the county recorder's office is also. Is the house free and clear or is there a mortgage against the property?

The first thing you should do is get your mother's will probated so that you and your brother's names will appear on the deed.

It does not matter how much you have done to the property, the fact is that your brother still is a half owner of the property.

About paying the taxes you should have asked your brother for his half of the taxes and for any other improvements that you made on the house. Of course he should have been asked if he approved of anything you did to the property since he does own half of it.

I take it by your question you have gotten attached to your mother's property. You have to remember that no matter what you think of your brother he is still your mother's child also and is entitled to his half of the property.

To answer your question yes he can take you to court and sue you to

#1 Sell the property so he can get his equity out of the property

#2 Get you to purchase his half of the property.

#3 Buy your half of the property.

Now it appears as if you have been living there for 4 years. Have you been paying him his rent for his half of the property. He can also sue you for that.

Does he reside in the house with you, apparently not from reading your question, so he has no access to his property and it appears as if you have been preventing him his right to his property.

You need to seek a probate attorney immediately, with your mother's deed so the probate can take place thus legally transfering the names from your mother to that of you and your brother, to the deed and it is recorded properly. The fee for the attorney will come from the sale of the property or funds from your mother's other assests.

Once the probate has started, if your brother mention the fact that you stayed there without his permission and did not pay him rent for his half, the probate judge might order you pay him rent that was due while you stayed there without his permission, the offset might be the taxes you paid as well as other maintenace and up keep the probate judge might take into consideration.

You also need to seek a tax advisor for all tax information, and an attorney for any legal advise.

If your are attached to the property and want to stay there,once the probate is complete and once the deed has been transferred to you and your brother you may get a loan on the property and pay your brother his half after which the deed will be in your name only.

All you have to do is contact a mortgage broker once you and your brother has the deed din your name. Tell the mortgage broker that you want to refinance your home so you can pay your brother off and get his name of the deed.

You will then have a mortgage to pay for the house you now own.

As long as there is no probate and the property is still in your mother's name there is nothing either one of you can do with the property, you can not get a loan against the property, you can't transfer it to anyone else. Heaven forbids if something should happen to one of you guys there would be all sort legal tanglements. Your children and your brother's children if you guys have any.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 3

Your brother can't force you to sell. As stated previously, you could have your brother sell you his half.

Answer 4

you could buy out his half