In Search of a Peaceful Way to Settle a Brother-Sister Feud

Q: My 22-year-old niece wants to sell a properly she jointly owns with her brother, who is 26. They inherited this property as a result of their parents' death. The property has gone through probate.

However, her brother doesn't want to sell the property because he is living there rent-free, is unemployed, and doesn't have the money or credit to buy his sister's half. In the meantime, he is not taking care of this property and it has gone down in value.

What legal rights does my niece have to sell this property?

A: Short of starting a family war, your niece may have few options. One option is to go through the numbers and show her brother how he would be better off with the cash in hand from the sale of the home. The other is to sue her brother. That suit would be a partition suit.

A partition suit, as with any litigation, will cost time and money. Your niece will have to balance the costs of litigation, the benefits of forcing her brother to sell the home and potential family problems. But in the litigation, she will be able to claim her share of the expenses for the home that her brother has failed to pay over the years.

Before attempting to litigate the matter, perhaps they can come to some agreement on selling the home. She can even give him an incentive to agree to sell, perhaps offering him extra money just to get the sale done.

She can also wait and hope that he gets a job that pays enough money for him to buy her share of the home or for him to decide to move elsewhere and agree to sell it.

Please talk to a real estate lawyer.

Q: My property recently was sold at a sheriff auction for back taxes that I owed. I have been reading that I have a period of time in which I can repay the money I owed to get my property back. If this is true, what is my time limit?

A: If your question is about real estate taxes, most states have a process that allows the real estate taxing authority to place a lien on a home for unpaid real estate taxes. The process allows the state to force the payment of the taxes through the sale of the home.

Typically, you'll first receive a real estate tax bill from your local real estate taxing authority. You have a certain time to pay that bill, and if you don't pay you can still bring your account current by paying certain late fees or interest costs along with what you owe in taxes.

But after a certain time period, the real estate taxing authority has the right to sell the property to reimburse itself for the unpaid taxes. You have to pay all amounts outstanding, including fees and other costs, to keep your property. If you fail to make those payments, the buyer at the tax sale then gets the right to the title to the property.