Joint shareholder refusing to sell

Daisytrix

Hello, 
I've searched high and low for an answer to this problem.  I'd really appreciate some guidance.

My husband inherited some shares with his brother.  The brother had them transferred into their names because it was "easier".  My husband wanted to sell his share right from the start but was not allowed by the brother.  Nearly 3 years have gone on.  He has regularly asked what his brother had done towards selling them.  He was always going to "look into it".  The shares are hospitality ones.  My husband wanted to offload in november and began warning about them falling due to covid (which they did).  In february (at their lowest) he finally agreed to buy my husband out but the money never arrived.  He is now saying he will still buy them out but at the greatly reduced february price!  My husband still owns the shares so why can he not have the current price?

Secondly, is there any way to separate his shares from the brothers?  He is acting in an appalling fashion and holding the shares hostage just does not seem reasonable?  Is there anything that can be done?

Thanks very much.

Moe_The_Bartender

How could the brother transfer the shares into his own name without your husband's consent? See a lawyer.

bigadaj

If they were inherited then they will have been administered by the executor of the deceased's estate, was this the brother? The executor has a legal duty to act in an appropriate manner, and would be personally liable for any losses, as above see a solicitor that deals with inheritance, they will normally do a free initial brief consultation, maybe by phone now given the covid issues still apparent. What was the value of the shares when inherited?

Daisytrix

Thank you both for your replies.  They are both joint executors but my husband's role has been quite limited beyond filling in the probate papers as we are not living in the uk.  The brother took it upon himself to have them transferred into joint names saying he would sort it out later.  My husband did write to him saying about being responsible for losses and how he waa not behaving appropriately.  Didn't make any difference. 
Value of my husband share about 850 post covid.  They haven't recovered their nov 2019 price when my husband started really pushing to get them sold.

Daisytrix

Sorry, at the time of probate i seem to recall my husband's share being about 400 500.

blue_max_3

If you arguing about a few hundred pounds, then going the legal route will be counter productive. He just needs to make his care more forcefully.

eskbanker

Daisytrix said:

My husband wanted to sell his share right from the start but was not allowed by the brother.  

[...]

Secondly, is there any way to separate his shares from the brothers?  He is acting in an appalling fashion and holding the shares hostage just does not seem reasonable?  Is there anything that can be done?

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/assertiveness.html

Daisytrix said:

Value of my husband share about 850 post covid.

Daisytrix said:

Sorry, at the time of probate i seem to recall my husband's share being about 400 500.

So he's doubled his money over three years?  Sounds OK to me, perhaps he should be grateful that he didn't sell up straightaway, despite how it happened....

Daisytrix

eskbanker said:

Daisytrix said:

My husband wanted to sell his share right from the start but was not allowed by the brother.  

[...]

Secondly, is there any way to separate his shares from the brothers?  He is acting in an appalling fashion and holding the shares hostage just does not seem reasonable?  Is there anything that can be done?

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/assertiveness.html

Daisytrix said:

Value of my husband share about 850 post covid.

Daisytrix said:

Sorry, at the time of probate i seem to recall my husband's share being about 400 500.

So he's doubled his money over three years?  Sounds OK to me, perhaps he should be grateful that he didn't sell up straightaway, despite how it happened....

That's all well and good but the brother is refusing to sell them even now so the value is largely immaterial at this point.

Assertiveness?  Not sure how assertive you can be with someone who stonewalls you for weeks at a time.

Moe_The_Bartender

Daisytrix said:

Thank you both for your replies.  They are both joint executors but my husband's role has been quite limited beyond filling in the probate papers as we are not living in the uk.  The brother took it upon himself to have them transferred into joint names saying he would sort it out later.  My husband did write to him saying about being responsible for losses and how he waa not behaving appropriately.  Didn't make any difference. 
Value of my husband share about 850 post covid.  They haven't recovered their nov 2019 price when my husband started really pushing to get them sold.

If your husband consented to allowing his brother to deal with probate, he can also withdraw that consent. I had a friend in a similar situation which was eventually resolved when her brother died. It had drifted for four years and in the meantime other beneficiaries were deprived of their inheritances and one of them had died in the meantime. It was all very messy.

steampowered

Perhaps the brother is just a bit of a procrastinator. Can your husband find out what needs to be done to sell the shares and organise it?

Your husband is equally responsible for organising it at the end of the day - nearly everything can be done online so the fact he is out of the UK is no excuse.

The fact that the brother wants to "buy him out" is ridiculous. Assuming these are listed shares, the shares can be sold. If the brother wishes to reinvest, he can simply immediately repurchase shares in the same company in his own name at the same price.

Daisytrix

steampowered said:

Perhaps the brother is just a bit of a procrastinator. Can your husband find out what needs to be done to sell the shares and organise it?

Having done it with my mom's estate we are familiar with the process.  The brother refuses to give access to the account.  My husband has offered on multiple occasions.

Your husband is equally responsible for organising it at the end of the day - nearly everything can be done online so the fact he is out of the UK is no excuse.

Being out of the country does make a difference as i found.  Online dealing is not allowed.  Has to be postal dealing.

The fact that the brother wants to "buy him out" is ridiculous. Assuming these are listed shares, the shares can be sold. If the brother wishes to reinvest, he can simply immediately repurchase shares in the same company in his own name at the same price.

Again, point blank refusal from the brother.  He wants to keep them and will only offer the february price when they took a nose dive.  Husband giving Equiniti a call tomorrow to see what he can do.

Answers above in bold.