Selling my share of the house

Slithery

I take it your brother hasn't been paying you rent for your half of the house for the last 5 years like he should've been doing?

foxy-stoat

The brother isnt working - so very unlikely to get a mortgage - this wont end very well.

TBagpuss

You can apply to the court under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act (ToLaTA)

It's important to get proper advice so you follow the correct procedure, failure to do so could mean you can't claim costs from him.

Your solicitor can advise you about the way forward.

Do you know how much 'the rest of the inheritance' which your brother is now living off, was? Is it possible that he might be able to buy you out, by paying you 50% of what the house is now worth?

If not, then the way forward is to sell the house. You get 50%, he gets 50%. He can then use his 50% to buy somewhere else (if it is enough) or he can get a job and a mortgage and then buy somewhere else.

It would be possible (althouigh not necessarily a good idea!) for you to agree to him paying you over a period of time - probably on the basis of the house being trnasferred to him, and a private mortgag eto you. However, that would leave you with various tax implication and the risk that if he doesn't pay you, you may then have to take steps to repossess and evict him.

Another option (again, get legal advice first) might be to offer him a deal where by he has a strict deadline by which he needs to buy your share of the house, failing which it is sold. So you could give him (say) 6 or 12 months to do so, which would allow him to get a job to be able to apply for a mortgage. Again, this would of course still mean you might have to force a sale if he doesn't then sort himself out, or if he can't afford to buy you out.

Finally, you could look at having a declaration of trust drawn up which set out arrangemetns for continuing to own the property jointly - perhaps setting out in details how much he was to pay you in 'occupation rent' and when, and in what circumstances either of you could require a sale (for instance, if either of you gives the other 6 months notice)

Legal advice would be essential as you don't want to create a tenancy and become a landlord, you would want to be co-owners but with him covering various costs etc. This is only an option if you would be happy to delay getting your capital,as long as you had some income from the house.

Ultimately, however, while you would like him to be able to stay in the house, it sounds as though that will only be possible if either you want to give it to him, or allow him to live there for nothing, or if he is able to buy you out.

It sounds as though you would like a way to resolve this without falling out with your brother or losing out on your inheritance, and sadly, it may well be that there is no way to achieve that, and you will have to decide which you want.

For what it is worth, it does sound as though you have been more than patient with your brother, and he is being unreasonable and unfair. Don't let him guilt-trip you or talk you into thinking you are being unreasonable or that you would be going against what your dad would have wanted or expected of you. 5 years is ample time for him to have got himself together and looked for work

tlc678910

Hi,
I agree with this:

TBagpuss wrote: »

“ a strict deadline by which he needs to buy your share of the house, failing which it is sold. So you could give him (say) 6 or 12 months to do so, which would allow him to get a job to be able to apply for a mortgage. Again, this would of course still mean you might have to force a sale if he doesn't then sort himself out, or if he can't afford to buy you out.

As you have left it be for five years already (lack of urgency/assertiveness) I think you should write and explain you are giving your brother 12 months to buy you out. Explain this should be plenty of time to get a job, save expenses and organise a mortgage as your brother won’t need a deposit due to his equity in the property.

Tell him (in the letter) that you hope he does this as you would like him to be able to stay in the house. However, if he does not, in 12 months you expect the house to be sold because your brother will have had six years and more than fair warning. Warn him if he obstructs the sale you will take him into court proceedings and due to his obstruction claim costs from him which will eat into his share significantly. Explain you have kept a copy of this letter as evidence for your case.

I would say that you want to help your brother but he has to help himself and you hope that this doesn’t come between you but if it does it will be because he is not being reasonable in expecting to live in comfort using both of your inheritances. If he brings up your dad hopefully it is true that he wouldn’t want one of you to do nothing at all (which is probably not good for him anyway) at the expense of their sibling and sorting it out now is the right thing to do.

Good luck

[Deleted User]

Sorry but your brother sounds lazy and needs to sort his life out. He's had it far too easy with that free house to live in and inheritance. And to still be using your dad as an excuse after 5 years!

Maybe if you took action on this then it would give him the kick up the !!!! he needs to get a job and get his act together.

csgohan4

Another thread where family and money should never mix. your brother is taking you for a free ride.

G_M

Louise286 wrote: »

We own the property jointly 50/50 there was a will but it was unsigned so had to go down the intestacy route. We're probably talking about £50k......

Do you mean the property is worth £50K?
Or you each have £50K in equity in a £100K property?


If the former, legal and court costs could eat considerable into this leaving little for either of you.