Q: I want to escape joint real estate ownership with my sibling.
My parents died and left two parcels of farmland to me and my brother, 50/50, tenancy in common. My brother has mental health and substance abuse issues. He is also petty and passive aggressive. It is always up to me to pay the taxes, collect farm rent, and deal with any issues that come up with the properties. There have been times when I needed his signature for something, and he would refuse to respond to my request, placing me in difficult situations.
I don't want to own anything jointly with him because he is so flakey and unreliable. I'm willing to let him choose one plot of land and let me keep the other. I'm willing to sell both parcels and divide the money (even though the land has been in the family for generations). I'm willing to buy him out or let him buy me out. I'm also willing to divide both plots of land. The only thing I not not willing to do is to be shackled to him financially. But he just refuses to engage in any kind of discussion. What are my options?
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A: You might be able to file suit for a Partition In Kind. Otherwise force a Sale For Partition. Hire an OK attorney.
A: If you have true Tenancy in Common, you own your "interest" in the property. You have the right to transfer that interest to anyone you like, even without the permission of the other interest owners. You can even sell your interest to another person not related to you. However, if you actually hold Joint Tenancy with right of survivorship, you must have consent of the other owners, this is where the Partition Order would come in, if the others do not agree. First step is to insure that it is a true TIC and not JT. You should probably contact an attorney for assistance on this, as there are some idiosyncrasies to deal with in property.
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