QUESTION
The home is left to 3 people with 1 staying in home and the house is unkept can we evict residents?
Asked on Dec 14th, 2012 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Massachusetts
More details to this question:
My father passed away and left the Coles Home to all 3 of us. Me (home of my own), my brother (whom lives in the house with his family) and my sister (has a home of her own). My father left all this in his will and now we are having problems. The bills are not getting paid and the house is falling down around my brother and his family that live in the home. I really will like to sell the home since me, my brother and sister cannot even sit down and talk about the finance of the Coles Residence (What we call the home now). The house had a 2nd mortgage and we cannot come to agreement on rent and how to pay taxes on the house. What can I do legally? I want to keep the home but now I would have to put my own money into the home to get it back into good shape or should I sell the home as is. And items in the home was not willed to anyone how do I go about distributing family items within the family?
7 ANSWERS
Criminal Defense Attorney serving Alhambra, CA
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Francis John Cowhig
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Your question requires an attorney consultation. It is not a simple question that can be answered on this type of forum. There are many factors that would need to be considered and evaluated. I strongly suggest that you contact an experienced probate and/or real estate attorney for a face-to-face consultation and give him/her all of the facts surrounding your situation. He/she would then be in a better position to analyze your case and advise you of your options.
Answered on May 23rd, 2013 at 9:51 PM
If you want to keep the house, you'll have to buy your siblings out. Otherwise, the house is sold and the proceeds divided among you.
Answered on Dec 18th, 2012 at 4:04 AM
Dennis P. Mikko
A Will is like a roadmap. It tells you what to do with a decedent's property after death. The Will itself does not empower anyone to act on behalf of the estate. It sounds like you need to open a probate estate for your father's estate. The court would appoint a personal representative that could then act according to the Will. If the heirs cannot agree on the disposition of estate assets, the personal representative could seek guidance from the court in the form of orders allowing for an orderly distribution of the estate. You would be well advised to seek the advise of an attorney as you proceed in this matter.
Answered on Dec 18th, 2012 at 4:03 AM
Litigation Attorney serving St. Louis, MO
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Probate Law Center Richard J. Keyes, PC
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If the house has not been probated, then have the executor (personal representative) of your father's estate sell the house. If the house has been probated and the three of you have the house in your three names, figure out if there is equity in the house with the value of the house being greater than the total of the first and second mortgages. If so, then for the real estate and not the contents of the home, since the three of you cannot agree, then you should file a partition lawsuit to have the real estate sold. Since your brother who lives in the house is also an owner, you cannot evict him. Please see an attorney as soon as possible because you do not want to lose the house through foreclosure.
Answered on Dec 18th, 2012 at 4:03 AM
Business Litigation Attorney serving Orange, CA
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Law Offices of Frank Granato
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You can file a complaint with the court and ask that the house be sold and proceeds split evenly.
Answered on Dec 18th, 2012 at 4:03 AM
Commercial Contracts Attorney serving Boise, ID
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Peters Law, PLLC
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First, the personal representative is the person that must determine what to do. The personal representative is supposed to gather up all of the assets, pay your father's bills and then distribute the assets in accordance with the will. If it is the brother living in the house, then you may need to ask the court to appoint a new personal representative. If it is not your brother, then you need to push the personal to do his or her job or ask for a new personal representative to be appointed.
Answered on Dec 18th, 2012 at 3:51 AM
Land Use & Zoning Attorney serving Boston, MA
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Greenbaum, Nagel, Fisher & Paliotti, LLP
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You need to retain a lawyer and investigate filing a lawsuit to compel the sale of the property and distribution of any personalty whose ownership is unclear. Things like this often happen within families and, unfortunately, the courts are all too often left to sort them out.
Answered on Dec 17th, 2012 at 2:38 PM