When the estate breaks the family

[Anonymous]

Also, Big Law BIL probably earns enough to buy that house several times over. Why didn't they settle the bill with parents before parents' death?

[Anonymous]

Good news OP! Hope it works out! The way my parents set up their will with multiple siblings ended up with most of us not talking to most others. Somewhat same kind of real eatate issue. Estate attorney compounded by totally ignoring codicil which laid out how the support one sibling got from parents in life was to be handled after death. It was a lesson learned that I (hopefully!!) have paid big bucks to ensure my kids have straightforward and fair process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an update.

PARTITION FILED

There was a lot of back and forth. The lawyers for the House sibling seemed to think we were all country bumpkins (parent died in rural location where none of us live any longer so must have assumed we were all there?) and would never do it. Partition was filed July 7 and our lawyer has had 3 calls from House siblings lawyers trying to work a deal.

Glad to read this update, OP. They forced your hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an update.

PARTITION FILED

There was a lot of back and forth. The lawyers for the House sibling seemed to think we were all country bumpkins (parent died in rural location where none of us live any longer so must have assumed we were all there?) and would never do it. Partition was filed July 7 and our lawyer has had 3 calls from House siblings lawyers trying to work a deal.

Glad to read this update, OP. They forced your hand.

No. If I read the thread correctly, OP and Siblings forced HouseSibling's hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it hard to believe this is not a troll thread.

Really - parents gave 50% down payment on a house but included that 50% plus house appreciation as part of the estate?

Come on. Parents had to know they were stirring a hornet's nest. No loving parent will pull that stunt.

I wish I was a troll or knew what my parent was thinking. The trust was drawn up years ago listing a previous house purchased for House Sibling-- this was an ongoing pattern which I can't explain but wasn't something the rest of the siblings knew about until parent died. The trust was never updated. The will was written almost 15 years later and was silent on this specific property. I have no explanation but the information only came out once parent died and documents were shared. Dealing with only one parent. My other parent died when we were all younger. No subsequent marriage which I guess makes things better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an update.

PARTITION FILED

There was a lot of back and forth. The lawyers for the House sibling seemed to think we were all country bumpkins (parent died in rural location where none of us live any longer so must have assumed we were all there?) and would never do it. Partition was filed July 7 and our lawyer has had 3 calls from House siblings lawyers trying to work a deal.

Glad to read this update, OP. They forced your hand.

No. If I read the thread correctly, OP and Siblings forced HouseSibling's hand.

Ya, no. You need to re-read. HouseSibling is the villain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it hard to believe this is not a troll thread.

Really - parents gave 50% down payment on a house but included that 50% plus house appreciation as part of the estate?

Come on. Parents had to know they were stirring a hornet's nest. No loving parent will pull that stunt.

I wish I was a troll or knew what my parent was thinking. The trust was drawn up years ago listing a previous house purchased for House Sibling-- this was an ongoing pattern which I can't explain but wasn't something the rest of the siblings knew about until parent died. The trust was never updated. The will was written almost 15 years later and was silent on this specific property. I have no explanation but the information only came out once parent died and documents were shared. Dealing with only one parent. My other parent died when we were all younger. No subsequent marriage which I guess makes things better?

I want to apologize profusely! I hadn't read all the pages and didn't realize you had provided an update about the partition sale.

Yeah, parents do funny things when they get old and no longer think clearly. Sorry you had to go through this.

[Anonymous]

Did someone make a mistake when they said the Deed was tenants in common with sibling owning 50% and parents owning 50%?

The parent’s ownership would pass through the probate on the last one’s death. It’s one of the parent’s assets it doesn’t belong to the sibling. What’s missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fair to split the amount your parents originally put down on the house. So if they put down $300k and your sib did the same, split the $300k with however many siblings. I would forgo the equity.

Would you also happily pay the gift tax on the equity you gave away to your sibling?

[Anonymous]

Why did it take so long to bring a partition action?

[Anonymous]

My guess is that since either the House Sibling or their spouse is Big Law, it was House Sibling that asked the parents to set it up this way to protect the house asset in the event of a future divorce. If parents had gifted 50% of the house as a down payment and the other 50% was covered by marital assets and payments, it would be comingled. If House Sib got divorced, spouse would get half the house including equity.

If parents still owned 50% of the house, spouse only gets 25% of the house and their adult child gets the other 25%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an update.

PARTITION FILED

There was a lot of back and forth. The lawyers for the House sibling seemed to think we were all country bumpkins (parent died in rural location where none of us live any longer so must have assumed we were all there?) and would never do it. Partition was filed July 7 and our lawyer has had 3 calls from House siblings lawyers trying to work a deal.

God bless you for coming back with an update! Did you get a new lawyer?

Estate lawyer is still the same nitwit who drew up the will and trust. The trustee sibling is sticking by that one. The rest of us got a new lawyer. There aren't many in the local county so it was hard to find one to move things along. We did ask about new judge but lawyer is concerned that will delay. We are on a monthly court checkin now with the judge.

Good for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that since either the House Sibling or their spouse is Big Law, it was House Sibling that asked the parents to set it up this way to protect the house asset in the event of a future divorce. If parents had gifted 50% of the house as a down payment and the other 50% was covered by marital assets and payments, it would be comingled. If House Sib got divorced, spouse would get half the house including equity.

If parents still owned 50% of the house, spouse only gets 25% of the house and their adult child gets the other 25%.

That makes sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sibling needs to reimburse the estate for that amount and then everything is split equally. I would not quit claiming it without them reimbursing me or buying it from the estate.

I opened this thread when it's 8 pages long, and this was the first post after the OP. It's the right answer - perhaps the only right answer.

If the sibling won't go for this, OP, then partition and be damned the consequences.

I think logic doesn't work with OP's sibling and BigLaw BIL. BIL is manipulating the situation to his benefit. I am guessing he blackmailed the parent into paying half and continuing to pay. Parent tried to solve it with the deed, but now BIL is just pulling the same thing on the siblings.

Yeah, after I read the rest of the thread, it's easy to see why the obvious solution hasn't worked.

OP, the last compromise you offered would have cost you and your other siblings tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The House Sibling is definitely greedy, but he is doing this because (i) the longer the estate stays open, the longer the estate is responsible for 50% of the mortgage and other expenses, and (ii) he does not believe you will take steps to enforce a partition. For 7 years, he's been right, and it's apparent that this will continue until you do. So, you have a choice to make: (i) allow this situation to continue indefinitely, (ii) give HS what he wants and be done with him, or (iii) force the executor/estate lawyer to take aggressive steps to close the estate, which means suing for partition. I'd definitely choose the third option, and I'd also do as others suggest and find a new lawyer who experienced in this type of litigation - it's a very niche specialty. I have been a BigLaw litigator for almost 30 years, and I wouldn't handle a case like this - I'd find someone who specializes in it.

Good luck.

But the house has appreciated!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The sibling needs to reimburse the estate for that amount and then everything is split equally. I would not quit claiming it without them reimbursing me or buying it from the estate.

+1.