How do I get the courts to order a sale of house and have the proceeds assigned to the respective owners according to their respective ownership.

The court procedure is called partition. It is expensive and takes a very long time. The sellers usually do not get as high a price as they would if they sold the property without the complications of the court procedures. The last one I defended, both sides spent $35,000 each in legal fees before they agreed to a settlement which they could have reached at the beginning before they paid anything to the lawyers. I almost always have been able to persuade people to either sell or at least sell one side's share to the other, rather than go to court. You really don't want to sue your elderly mother. That never ends well. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need.   Dana Sack