Jointly Owning Real Estate With Your Siblings Is a Sticky Situation
If you own a house, you are one of the lucky few. If you own a house, then chances are you inherited it, or else you inherited money that enabled you to buy it. Admonishing people not to attempt to micromanage from beyond the grave is the province of estate planning lawyers, not of real estate lawyers. Suffice it to say that owning real estate while being indebted to family members who are still alive is no picnic, either. In the best of circumstances, inheriting a house jointly with your siblings can bring generational wealth and family togetherness. Most of the time, though, reality falls far short of the ideal, and joint ownership of the house leads to stress and conflict. For advice about keeping the peace while owning or selling a real estate property that you and your siblings have bought or inherited jointly, contact a Bronx real estate attorney.
Your Spouse Would Not Be Happy About Living in a House That Legally Belongs to Your Siblings
One possible solution is for one sibling to live in the inherited house, even as the other siblings’ names remain on the deed. This way, even though the house is only a source of shelter for one sibling, it is potentially a source of home equity lines of credit for all of them. The person who gets shortchanged in this scenario is the spouse of the sibling who lives in the house. Marrying someone who has financial entanglements with his or her siblings is always a challenge, but if your siblings-in-law are partial owners of your house, it is easy to feel like they are constantly intruding in your bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, even when you are home alone.
One Landlord Is Too Many, Let Alone More
Another option is for all the siblings to retain ownership of the house and to use it as a rental property. This is only a good option if you would be willing to operate any other kind of family business with your siblings, and preferably if you already do. Owning rental real estate properties is not passive income; it is a business that requires as much work as any other business.
When You Buy Out Your Siblings’ Share of Ownership of the House, They Get Jealous
The best way to resolve conflicts with your siblings over your jointly owned real estate property could be to buy out their share. If you do this, you should sign a document in which you agree that, by selling their shares of ownership, they no longer have a claim to further appreciation of the property’s value. Plenty of siblings have gotten angry that they took the cash while their sibling kept the generational wealth.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Real Estate Attorney
A real estate lawyer can help you resolve conflicts with your siblings over a jointly owned real estate property. Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.
Source:
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