This situation can be avoided. By keeping the emotional heat down and a compromising frame of mind in the forefront, there is generally a solution that can be made for a peaceful settlement. Seek professional advice if you think you need some assistance, enroll help of a mediator. The mediator will encourage communication between family members, promote understanding, and attempt to identify possible areas of compromise by bringing attention to common areas of interest. Where creative solutions to these problems can be facilitated, there is mutual gain for all concerned. A good solution is for one of the heirs to buy the property from the others. Ordinarily, if you inherit the home with your siblings without any remaining mortgage, the rule is that ownership is to be evenly split unless otherwise stated in the will. If one of the siblings is interested in keeping it while the others want to sell it, the interested sibling can buy out the others using conventional financing. The cost involved in this process can be minimal and includes the appraiser’s fees and the closing costs. If this will work, you pay your siblings in cash for their shares and get the title of the property transferred into your sole name through a deed. Alternatively, a private agreement can prove useful under some circumstances. For instance, if you or your sibling cannot qualify for a mortgage, the one who does not wish to keep the house can finance the transaction. This will mean you will not need a home loan or incur out of pocket expenses. For a private agreement, you make a promissory note to your sibling for his or her share of the value as assessed by the appraisal. The amount due to him or her can be paid in monthly installments along with interest. With this arrangement, you can buy out the property over time. If necessary, you may also make
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