Joint ownership and how to divide assets

Avalanche33

My brother and I have just lost our mother. She had just purchased a house in Wales but never moved in due to illness and then sadly passed away a few days ago. We are both executors of the will and all assets are to split 50/50. My brother and his family are keen to take on the new house.  The house is worth more than the cash assets. My brother suggested I took all the cash and then he would pay me the remaining balance (to cover my 50%) once they sold the house. Albeit we are on very good terms, I am loathe to proceed along this route should something go wrong. Also, would we have access to the cash assets prior to my share of the house being "sold" to my brother? He is reliant on this money to be able to complete some refurbishments to his existing property to enable him to sell. 
I have suggested we approach a solicitor to complete the necessary paperwork and ensure that all financial aspects are covered for absolute clarity. I have also been advised that I should ask them not to move in to the new house prior to any official transfer of deeds or sale money as they may then have more rights than I do.  Any advice would be very welcome.

Mojisola

Avalanche33 said:

We are both executors of the will and all assets are to split 50/50. My brother and his family are keen to take on the new house.  The house is worth more than the cash assets.

My brother suggested I took all the cash and then he would pay me the remaining balance (to cover my 50%) once they sold the house.

Also, would we have access to the cash assets prior to my share of the house being "sold" to my brother? He is reliant on this money to be able to complete some refurbishments to his existing property to enable him to sell.

It sounds as if he wants to use the cash assets and have complete ownership of the house!

Definitely take legal advice before doing anything and get any agreement signed and witnessed.

Being on very good terms now might not last when he is faced with handing over cash to you.

Alarae

Get the house valued and get your brother to take a mortgage for 50% of the value. Then split the cash assets 50/50 so he then has money to do up the house to his liking. 

Only fair way I can see it happening. Otherwise it sounds like he wants to live in the house mortgage free on your dime (as it is half yours) and I highly doubt you will get any money from him as what if he never sells? You would never win forcing a sale on friendly terms as he will say you are 'trying to kick his family out of their home' to sell it so you can get your money.

Recipe for disaster OP. Get him to buy you out now. Not later. 

tacpot12

You could put first charge on the house, so that if the house is sold, you get your money first, but really the best thing to do is for him to get a mortgage so that you can have your inheritance. 

Your solicitor might be able to arrange a scheme whereby you effectively lend your brother the money to buy you out - he would make his mortgage payments to you (you would definitely want a first charge on the house), and you need make it clear how long he has before you force a sale if he starts not paying you. If the income is useful to you, this arrangement could work, but you would need to be tough to evict your own brother, and he would have to be quite phlegmatic to accept being evicted by his brother without becoming bitter. In my experience. it is always much better to let a commercial lender loan money to family members.  

Your brother and his family may only be keen to take it on because they think they can do so without having to buy the half they don't currently own! 

getmore4less

He is reliant on this money to be able to complete some refurbishments to his existing property to enable him to sell. 

You seem to be saying he wants to use estate assets to fix up his old place then sell that to pay back the estate and the  extra you need to get your 50%.

Does that current place have a mortgage, could he raise a mortgage on the inherited place?

The suggestion that he raises funds on the inherited property and takes that over 100% leaving the estate with enough cash to pay you off and him have enough to fund the refurbs on the place and sell that means you are not bound by his time scales which could be a lot longer than you want.

Why can't he sell his place as is, will fixing it up and taking longer really add more value than is going to be put in?
 

Mickey666

Firstly, have both beneficiaries agreed a price for the house?   I’ve known situations where siblings could not agree so the house was put on the market with a deadline date for best offers.  This would then establish the market price that the siblings could not really dispute.  This would typically take many months, perhaps even longer under the current economic circumstances, which should be enough time for the brother in this case to sell their own house.  Meanwhile, the house and cash remains within the estate, giving both beneficiaries the incentive not to drag their heels.  When Brother has sold his house, he’ll have the money to buy-out his sibling when the final offer on the inherited house is received.   In the event that offers for the inherited house are too high for the Brother to afford to pay half, it can be sold to the highest offer and the resulting my split 50/50 along with all the cash assets of the estate.

AdrianC

Estate has cash assets + property asset (- debts?).
Let's say £50k cash + £200k property, £0 debts. Total value £250k.

You are each due £125k from the estate.

If your brother wants the property, he will need to inject £75k of value into the estate. He then gets his £125k in the form of 62.5% of the property, you get your £125k in the form of 100% cash. How he finances that £75k is his problem.

You could choose to lend it him, if you so wished.
The estate would pay you £50k cash, and he would pay you the £75k at some point in the future. Hopefully...

Avalanche33

Thanks for all the replies. I have suggested to him that paying to refurb his current house to then move to another seems pointless and he would be better off just selling the house as is. He may have to swallow a loss but this would be off set against the money he saves not spending on the house. Having spoken to a solicitor today, the recommendation is that he sells his current property, has a new mortgage in place to buy out my share of the inherited house and then it proceeds as per a normal sale.  I have suggested to my brother that we may want to have a deadline in case he cant sell his house.