QUESTION
What do I have to do to get the money owed to me from my brother for utility bills, house insurance and taxes and other misc. bills?
Asked on Nov 18th, 2014 on Civil Litigation - California
More details to this question:
Our parents passed away in 2009 leaving my brother and myself the family home in California in a living trust! We both moved in to the house! He had problems with utility company's in the past so I put all the bills in my name. For a short period he did pay me half the bills but that stopped about 2 years ago! Like a dummy I've been paying all the bills for those two years and he refuses to reimburse me one penny! It seems like he has started jacking up the utility bills in that time frame also! I can not buy him out so what he wants is to sell the house. Do I need to take him to court for the bills he owes me and how do I do that if needed or can I have an attorney right up something saying that in order to sell the house the monies owed me must come directly from his half of the house sale before I will sign any papers releasing the house for sale? Or are there any other alternatives to the two scenarios that I have brought up? Thanks so much for your time ahead of time!!
1 ANSWER
2 Awards
Either you or your brother can force the sale of the house through a partition lawsuit. In the event that either one of you did file that partition suit, you could likely seek to have your brother's portion of the proceeds offset the shared household bills that you have paid over the years.
You can also come to an agreement to sell the house and have your brother reimburse you through the proceeds from the sale. In that event you should definitely have an attorney assist you in preparing an agreement to make sure that you are protected in the process.
Thanks,Jon
Answered on Nov 18th, 2014 at 3:38 PM