By the law of life, there comes a time when all of us are left fatherless and motherless. It is a moment of great sadness that, immediately, comes from the division of inheritance between the brothers. But, what happens when it is made up of a single house and there is no agreement between them? Here we are going to answer this question.
Common problems when selling the inheritance of an apartment between brothers
The inheritance of a house between brothers is usually especially problematic when there are no other assets that make it up. The reason is that, very often, one of them refuses to sell his part.
It should be borne in mind that, after the death of the last parent, the apartment inherited by several brothers becomes equal to all of them. Therefore, when selling it, everyone without exception must give their consent.
What happens in most cases is that one or more of them, either due to the normal sentimental attachment they have to the home, because they are still experiencing the mourning process or, simply, because they want to wait for a better moment in the that house prices have risen, he refuses to sell his inheritance.
It is also increasingly common for some of the brothers to want to obtain a return on the house through the rent formula and the rest need the money from the sale urgently or that one of them wants to buy the part of the others and they refuse because prefer to transfer it to a third party.
In any case, these are problems that are difficult to solve and that generate a large number of family conflicts.
Selling a flat between brothers: the agreement, the best solution
Without a doubt, when we are dealing with an inheritance of a house between brothers, the best solution to resolve the conflict always goes through reaching an agreement between all the parties. And it is that, by judicial means, it is going to be very difficult to force someone to part with something that legitimately corresponds to them.
In this sense, our advice is that the first step to take should always be to appraise the home. This is basic when it comes to selling an apartment between siblings since it offers the possibility of knowing exactly the value of the property and its real situation and, later, analyzing among all the existing options which is the most convenient.
What can you do if your brother does not want to sell the inheritance?
If you have tried unsuccessfully to convince your siblings to sell the house, you should know that you still have options for disposing of your part of the property, although they are considerably more complex and, in most cases, less beneficial to you in terms economic. Let’s see them:
Sell your share of sibling inheritance
Many people do not want to remain owners of the inherited home for multiple reasons. They may need the money to meet another payment, they may not want to bear the expenses associated with it, or they may simply not be interested in tax terms in owning a second home. In this case, nothing prevents you from selling your percentage share of the home to a third party. However, it is something quite complex and it does not usually happen regularly.
For example, if you inherited your parents’ home with two brothers, you would be entitled to 33.3% of the property, which you could sell when you wanted. In fact, there are real estate companies that make this type of acquisition, even if it is at a much lower price than the real market value of the property due to the complexity of the situation.
However, there is an additional problem. The law, in these cases, provides that the rest of the co-owners (the other two brothers) have the right of first refusal and withdrawal. By this we mean that any of the beneficiaries of the inheritance can match the offer made by said real estate company and automatically keep their share.
Division of the common thing: is it possible to carry it out on a floor inherited by several brothers?
Some people, when they do not reach an agreement with their brothers, resort to the judicial route to request the division or partition of the common thing, that is, of the house they share with them. In case of estimating the demand, the judge would compel the property to be divided physically in equal parts among all its owners, so that each one of them could do with their own what they deemed convenient.
However, this is a formula that, in general, is only allowed in the case of single-family homes and that excludes flats. This is because this type of housing located inside neighboring communities is indivisible. The only possibility would be that said property was made up of two or more houses joined together and that each of them had independent access.
The public auction of a shared apartment between brothers
This is, frankly, the worst of all situations that can be reached. If one or more of the brothers involved continue in their efforts to sell their part of the property and the rest do not, the judge may consider that, to resolve the conflict, the most convenient thing is to sell the property through public auction and, later , once the expenses associated with the sale and that correspond to the seller are discounted, divide the money obtained equally among them.
As a general rule, apartments and houses sold through the public auction system fetch a much lower price than they have in the normal real estate market. In addition, not only would the sales expenses to associates have to be added, but also the legal expenses derived from the auction. Therefore, it is a very damaging operation for the heirs in economic terms, but the only viable alternative at this point.
In short, the inheritance of a house between brothers is a matter that can become entrenched to the point that all the co-owners end up losing money or, at least, earning much less than they could if they sold it through the free real estate market. . For this reason, we insist once again that reaching an agreement, even if the presence of mediators is necessary, is always the best solution when you cannot proceed to the partition of the common thing and you do not want to reach the public auction after a long Judicial process.