Can his brother legally stop the house sale?

MrsJam

Hi, my husband's father died last year and has left his house to all his children. (There are seven of them). For reasons too lengthy to go into it has taken all this time to get hold of the original will so the house can now be sold. It's a two bed terrace in need of complete modernisation and last year the family were offered £55000 from a builder. As they didn't have the will the house couldn't be sold.

Now they've got the will, gone back to the same builder who is now offering £35000. They were considering this but my OH said he'd rather buy it for that amount if the family agreed, which they all did originally.

Husband has arranged a mortgage and is ready to proceed. One problem, his brother has now decided he wants more for the house. His brother along with his sister are executors of his fathers will. The brother who is not happy has seen the solicitor dealing with the will and has been told the sale of the house cannot go ahead because the brother objects.

They've had other offers ranging from £35000 to £40000, (it's in a very run down area), but the brother is adamant he wants £70000 for it!

Can he legally hold out for this even though the rest of the family want to sell to OH as quickly as possible?

Would appreciate some help with this please!

princeofpounds

You need professional advice for situations like this involving challenging execution of a will.

I believe the basic situation is that executors can execute as they see fit unless they are being negligent, totally unreasonable or take far too long.

Negotiation is probably the best way forward and annoying as this may be the 'greedy' brother is only trying to do his best for the beneficiaries as a whole, as is his duty, even if he is possibly going about it the wrong way.

Why not agree on a compromise? Get 3 agents in to value and take the average? Or a surveyor? Or agree to mkt for x months and you cen buy for an agreed price at the end of that or get first option to gazump a higher offer?

00ec25

The executor has a legal duty to always act in the best interests of the beneficiaries as a whole and must distribute the legacy to beneficiaries as per the terms of the will.

you will need professional advice as to what, if any, discretion the executor has to administer a decision where there is disagreement

where there is disagreement, seeing as in this case the executor is also a beneficiary, then strictly speaking the executor should not vote or should seek external professional advice and ensure that this is followed, which is what, to an extent, the brother has done.

the previous advice of getting external valuations would be the safest course for the executor as they would then be able to show they have taken reasonable steps to discharge their duty (and minimise the risks of being sued if another member of the family contests it)

none of this helps you because what the brother has done in objecting is actually what the executor should do, as it is in the best interests of all the benficiaries to maximise the value of the house. Unless of course your husband intends to a 7 way split of any profit he makes selling the house at a later date, having purchased it "cheap"

MrsJam

Hi, thanks for the replies. The family have got other 'offers' in ranging from £35k - £40k. They've discussed putting the house on the market but initially decided against it. There reasons being, the housing market could fall further and they don't want to spend any money on HIP packs and estate agent fees.

They just want the cash. The brother has said he wants £10k from the sale of the house, (he is comfortably off and has no dependants). The rest have dependants. Obviously everyone wants as much as possible and can't blame him for that.

Thanks again!

ukmike

As the house was left in equal portions to each of the children then all 7 of them have to agree to the sale.

Wrong,only the executors have to agree.

Cannon_Fodder

Tell him to stump up £60k for the other 6 siblings to share, then he can try and sell it for £70k to recoup his money and get his own £10k out of it...

Ian_W

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Tell him to stump up £60k for the other 6 siblings to share, then he can try and sell it for £70k to recoup his money and get his own £10k out of it...

Errm ... but the other 6 are apparently happy to sell for about £5K each!! Tell him he can buy them out for for £40K and if he can sell it for £70K - good luck to him.

Presumably the OPs husband thought it was worth more than £35K when he wanted to buy it, so why is the brother who thinks the same - that it's worth more - a baddie?

Better still get some EA to give valuations at "realistic" levels, HIPs cost only £2-300 (slit 7 ways) and agents fees are only payable when it is sold. Rucks over the share of a parent's estate can be festering sores dividing families for years, sell it on the open market for the best price you can get! Nobody can bear a grudge then.

spuds_2

I can see this causing problems for years to come if it is not done fairly. If they have had offers of £40k then they should either accept that offer or your husband should match it. Otherwise there will always be the bugbear that it was sold to him at under market value, and your OH has made money from the other siblings by doing it up and selling on at a profit.

How bad is it? Could the siblings afford to put a few hundred in each and refurb it together and then sell it on the open market? I realise this would be a hassle but it might stop people feeling they have been short-changed. I would look at Rightmove and houseprice web sites to see what a decent house in the same area could be worth and what ones on the same road have sold for.

The builder will know that it is a bereavement sale and will want to pay the absolute minimum for it.

Pee

It is up to the Executors but they will be in trouble if they sell at an undervalue... I would accept the offer of £40k from someone else and move on.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

I think the brother who is objecting, should prove that its worth £70k. Why not get all the siblings to put up money for an independent valuation. It should be agreed that whatever the valuation comes out at, is the figure at which the property will sold. End of argument!!

AMD