How Well Do You Work With Your Brother Or Sister?
Are you inheriting a home or Pennsylvania real estate with your brother or sister?
Whether you answered yes or no imagine you and your brother inherit a parcel of land in Pennsylvania. Your brother thinks the parcel is worth more than the local real estate agent says it is worth. You want to sell the property but your brother wants to wait to get the unrealistic price.
What do you do?
There are a few important questions you need to know to understand your options as to what you can and cannot do with the property.
Two important questions to find out are:
1. How do you and your brother or sister own the property?
There are two likely ways that you could own it: tenants in common or as joint tenants. Both mean that each owns 1/2 of the property. But the law treats each differently so it is important to understand the meaning and ramifications of each scenario.
2. What can you do if you do not agree on what to do with the home or real estate?
It may be possible to force a sale with respect to your half. In Pennsylvania, co- owners have the right to compel “partition” of the real estate. However, mediation might be better since partition and forced sales don’t always produce the best results and could cause permanent hard feelings.
Do you need a good mediator to help you to resolve an estate or real estate matter? Call David M. Frees III as a neutral estate mediator or simply for more information about mediation and how it can preserve relationships and save on the costs of litigation.
