inheritance

sam ford

Good morning, i got inheritance from an uncle approx 18mths ago, a half share common tenant with my brother in 20acres land locked acess only by a non regestered right of way , got a solicitors letter asking will i sell it to him or i buy his share out,or go to court, he never asked in person, i asked a solicitor about this , he wants me to sell, says i can't sell to a third party, i feed this land is worth very little as its land locked, i feel i am been dragged down a borrow hole, he susgested if my brother does not give suffient money for it, it will go to court and it will be ordered to be sold at public auction with all fees being charged agaisnt me such as auctioneers etc, any advice,

Peregrinus

What do you want to do, or have done, with the land?

sam ford

Have not done anything yet with the land, was intending to keep a few ponies, l am not a farmer,

Peregrinus

But what do you want done?

Do you want you and your brother to continue co-owning it, but not using it?

Do you want you and your brother to continue co-owning it and to put it to some use together? If so, what use?

Do you want your brother to buy your share from you, so that he becomes sole owner? (Evidently not, from the OP.)

Do you want to buy your brother's share from him, so that you become the sole owner?

Do you want you and your brother jointly to sell the land for the best price it can get, and split up the money?

As matters stand, any use you make of the land (e.g. grazing horses on it) your brother will have to agree to; any use he makes of it, you will have to agree to. If you can't reach agreement then the land is going to be unused and neglected; this is not a good outcome for anyone.

So, whatever you want to do, the first step is to talk to your brother and see if he can be got to agree. Any agreed course of action that you can hammer out between you is going to go a lot more smoothly, and with a lot less expense, than if you are in dispute.

As a matter of public policy, the courts don't like co-owned property going unused and being neglected and deteriorating because the co-owners are in dispute as to what to do with it. Your solicitor's advice is basically correct; if a dispute between co-owners gets to court, the court will generally advise the co-owners to try to come to an agreed solution and give them an opportunity to do so, but if that fails the court's default solution is to order the property to be sold (usually by auction) and the sale proceeds divided. That way, at least the property ends up in the hands of someone who can actually make use of it. And, once the sale proceeds have been split between the former co-owners they no longer own anything together, so the lack of agreement between them ceases to be a problem.

JVince

Seems it's worth very little and you don't seem to get on with your brother.

Once the offer is reasonable, take it.

If it's derisory, insist on an independent valuation.

K.G.

The first thing is that as things stand neither you or your brother have anything of value without each others agreement.

Secondly at least your brother is being proactive and has started the engagement process.too often these thing s are left slip.by the sounds of it the letter is just him kick starting the process and building his position should this end up in court,typical of a letter written under solicitors advice.

Speak to a solicitor and establish your position and possible solutions but make your own decisions with the advice.

I would engage in the process but I would conduct any business by email-no spoken word.it gives a record of everything said and gives you a breathing space to think before you reply.

Don't be intimidated by the process.its just business and the roulette solution of pricing your share at a value that you would be prepared to buy his half is commonly used in business partnership's

endofrainbow

I would engage in the process but I would conduct any business by email-no spoken word.it gives a record of everything said and gives you a breathing space to think before you reply.

^This. It also provides a paper trail of communications.

spaceHopper

This is very odd and my immediate though it that he's up to something. Mainly because he didn't come to you and talk about it face to face or even phone you. Also the threat of court is vert off putting. Is there a tax bill to be settled, CGT? Does he need the money? Did he buy some road frontage?

I would write back to the solicitor you are happy to split the land into two lots. Offer a map and say which plot does he want or has he a suggestion as to how to split it? Which you will consider. After a few letters back and forth you'll have run up the bill for your brother. If they go to court then get your own solicitor though some initial legal advice now wouldn't hurt.