Partition of Inherited Property: An Avoidable Nightmare

A testator’s plans for his or her children to inherit the family home can backfire in several ways. The worst-case scenario is that the real estate property never even makes it to their heirs. The probate court can order the sale of the decedent’s house if the estate does not have enough cash to pay creditor claims. Medicaid asset recovery is just one of the situations where this can happen. Once the estate settles, the house legally belongs to the heirs, but the problems do not always end there. When people leave a house to their children to share, they usually have an unrealistic view about the challenges of jointly owning a house with your siblings. If only it were as simply as the siblings living together and fighting like cats and dogs, like they did when they were children. Usually, at least one of the siblings wants to sell the house, and selling a house, even with people with whom you consistently see eye to eye, is always a challenge. If you and your siblings inherited a house from your parents, but only some of you want to keep it, contact a Bronx probate attorney.

How Does the Court Divide an Indivisible Piece of Real Estate?

When a group of siblings inherits a house from their parents, the law considers them tenants in common, which is one of several kinds of joint ownership. When one of them wants to sell the property, but the others do not, the partial owner who wants to sell can petition the court to force a sale. In the old days, this meant that the courts auctioned off a lot of inherited houses when the siblings could not agree about whether to keep or sell them.

Partition by sale, as described above, is only one of two kinds of partition of property. The other option is partition in kind, where the court physically divides the property among the partial owners. That works well if the jointly owned property is a piece of undeveloped land, but it is virtually impossible if the property is a house.

The Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act

Fortunately, many states, including New York, have adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act (UPHPA). This sets up a process to prevent the auction of inherited property. When a partial owner petitions the court to partition a real estate property, the court first gives the other owners the opportunity to buy out the petitioner’s share. If that does not work, the parties hire a real estate agent to list the house for sale, under the court’s supervision. This way, the house sells for fair market value instead of being auctioned and each of the partial owners receiving only a meager amount.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

A probate lawyer can help you resolve disputes with your relatives over a jointly owned real estate property.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/the-hard-truth-about-splitting-a-parent-s-house-among-siblings-nobody-wants-to-discuss/ss-AA2bCzl4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=6a9d9d72fcf244b2b9ce1a727b176031&ei=53#image=4