collecting rent on tenents in common - Posted by june martin

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Law
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Posted by june martin on February 28, 2008 at 07:24:19:

yes, we took him to probate court because a year and a half after mom died my brother the named executor in the will did not do squat in a way of even being appointed, he had to be persueded so to speak. We offered our help and he shut us out of everything. He has clearly stolen assets, but our hands are tied. We spent in the area of 9000.00 to be stalled anyway. The estate attorney is also the attorney that drew up the will for my mom and is awful. He indicated to me that representing me in this matter would be a conflict of interest but now he represents the estate, contantly favoring my brother the executor. I demanded at this point again through the court that this estate be settled and my name be put on the deed. When i recieved a copy the attorney created a life estate. I have a family and I appealed it. the judge clearly saw the favoritism. I demanded tenents in common so that if anything happened to me, my family recieves my half because they will see nothing leaving it up to my brother. His ultimate goal is to keep everything for himself. I am so disappointed to realize that I lost my whole family when mom passed. This man even broke ties with my children his only real realatives to keep the bulk of the estate. Very sad. But yes, he is planning to live there till he dies. He is not terminally ill. I could understand if that were the case but it is not.
thanks again,
junie;)

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collecting rent on tenents in common - Posted by june martin

Posted by june martin on February 27, 2008 at 14:15:06:

can i legally collect rent from my brother from a residence that my mother left us 50% each but he resides in the house. we have a tenents in common deed!
what do i do?? Am i entitled to this as he intends on dying in the house.
thanks,
junie;0

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I’m still not clear about… - Posted by Rick, the Probate Guy

Posted by Rick, the Probate Guy on February 29, 2008 at 22:45:35:

…whether the estate has been completed and distributed, or even filed. I’m inclined to believe that it’s been filed but just hanging in probate purgatory. If that’s the case, that’s unfortunate.

The current attorney represents your Brother as P/R of the estate. THat means your Brother is his client, not you, not the “estate” or other heirs. His responsibility is to advocate for your Brother, which includes seeing to it that your Brother fulfills the duties as the P/R and is accountable to the court, creditors and other heirs/beneficiaries.

If Brother is not taking care of business, you hire an attorney to represent you and have Brother removed. If he was bonded, go after his bond, if need be, or get a judgment against his beneficial interest in the estate.

Or, sell (assign) your interest to a 3rd party, let them be the alligator wrestler (I’ve been in this role many times…but please don’t ask) and pursue this one. Frankly, that’s probably the better plan unless you want to throw money at this problem and devote countless hours to removing arrows and patching wounds.

Why not track down our own IB(NJ) or someone like him that could take on such a project? Or, work out a % split for the investor/reptile wrestler to recover your share of the inheritance? Are you old enough to remember Marlin Perkins who directed “Jim” to wrestle the alligator while he was perched safely in a tree?

Sounds like a good place to be.

Anyway, I’m hoping Jimmy will fill in whatever I’ve missed (I’m a big fan of his posts).

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RTPG got most of it - Posted by Jimmy

Posted by Jimmy on February 28, 2008 at 04:40:32:

you are NOT entitled to rent from your brother. each of you have the right to reside in the house. so you can move in, too. and you can lease your interest to someone else.

it gets worse. you have equal responsibility for taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs…

the partition action is the final solution. but let’s hope you do not have to go there. if you are lucky, the threat of the lawsuit will get your brother to take action. first, you tell him you are going to see a lawyer. if that does not phase him, find a real estate attorney. have RE lawyer send letter demanding fairness, or else. if that does not work, be prepared to go to the mat.

in the end, a judicially supervised sale of the property is the result, and you get to keep half of the crumbs that remain…

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Sharing an inheritance - Posted by Rick, the Probate Guy

Posted by Rick, the Probate Guy on February 27, 2008 at 15:18:19:

If he’s on title, you’re probably not entitled to collect rent from him even though he may clearly be getting the benefit of the bargain (or free inheritance for both of you, as in this case).

Absent any other type of restriction giving him a life estate which is superior to your interest, you’d have to either work out a deal with your Brother or hire an attorney to sue under what’s called a partition action, whereby the court ultimately forces the sale of the house, likely at auction.

This is not a cheap legal action and most any attorney worth their salt will charge you a large retainer fee and upfront costs. It could be a lot of money for the average person to come up with.

You don’t mention what State you’re in, however there could be some other plays and/or legal manuever’s possible.

Why not move in with your Brother? After all, if he has 50%, then you have the other 50%, right?

Lastly, you mention that he intends on dying in the house. Is this something he expects will eventually happen or something that he’s planning? I know the question may be in poor taste, however I’m not sure by your post.

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Re: Sharing an inheritance - Posted by junie

Posted by junie on March 02, 2008 at 23:02:19:

that would be a outrageous solution however, i own a home and have a family total of 5. what could or would he think then. The will states that if a son should remain in the home they would be responsible for upkeep and maintenence. It would sure be cheaper to split the taxes and repairs than to come up with a mortgage every month along with all the other bills.
thanks,
junie;)

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Re: Sharing an inheritance - Posted by junie

Posted by junie on February 28, 2008 at 07:07:48:

Hi,
We have been waiting 6.5 years to get the executor my brother to do what he was appointed to do. We are in NJ and the will actually covers both brothers. If one son should have to leave, the remaining son should pay taxes and maintenence. It continues to say when the remaining sons decides to vacate proceeds be split between the two sons. My brother made it clear that he wants to die in this house. It’s more of a spiteful plan. Too bad but that is exactly what it is.
There is no way to collect some compensation? It seems that the will states vacate at some point. He has no intention of this. clearly he is holding back the largest part of my inheritance. practices avoidence. does not answer his telephone, does not attend wakes, weddings and so on just to avoid me. There has to be some kind of law protecting beneficiaries.
thanks so much for your imput.
junie:)

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Maybe he is planning it for his 1/2 ? - Posted by Bill H

Posted by Bill H on February 27, 2008 at 16:42:51:

Lastly, you mention that he intends on dying in the house.

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Re: Maybe he is planning it for his 1/2 ? - Posted by june martin

Posted by june martin on February 28, 2008 at 13:03:59:

Bottom line is that my brother thinks the entire estate belongs to him but the will indicates 50/50.
Everything has been held back from us, including stocks, bonds, jewelry that my mom promised my daughter her only granddaughter. He ransacked the jewelry box and gave my daughter her costume jewelry. this is a very bad trip we have been on. My mom wrote the will so that there would be none of this and left the greedy, selfish and I want to say eccentric one as the executor. She wanted no fights, just for us both to have half. She would absolutely be ashamed of his actions. too bad for us…:frowning: