Q: Me and my brother own the house and property that my parents lived in. What are my rights to sell?
Me and my brother own the house and property that my parents lived in. I want to sell him my half but either he can't get the money or won't pay 1/2 of appraisal value. I am the oldest of both of us and I have no desire to keep another house. If he can't buy my part, I suggested to put it up for sale and we split the the proceeds but he refused that. Do I have any rights here? What can I do?
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A: You can't sell it without his signature. Actually, you can sell just your half with only your signature, but nobody will buy that. If your brother won't listen to reason, then you can force him to sell by going to court but it will be expensive and the cost will come out of both of your shares. The court process is called "partition". If the property can't be physically divided, then the court will order the property sold and the proceeds distributed according to each owner's percentage. This entire process is typically costly and stressful and time-consuming. You will have to pay for lawyers, appraisers, surveyors, brokers and accountants. And often the sale price is relatively low because the buyers know it's a forced sale.
A: You can file a partition action in the county where the property is located.
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