Siblings should try to avoid lawsuit for land
Q: My four siblings and I jointly inherited 100 acres. There is a house front and center, and about a quartermile of highway frontage. Most of the back portion is wooded, while other portions are just sand. Four of us want to sell the entire place, but one brother wants the house and several acres around it. We feel this would diminish the value of the entire property. We are considering a partition lawsuit, hoping a judge will find the property cannot be logically and equally divided into five pieces, thus forcing a sale. Any thoughts about pros and cons of a partition lawsuit?
A: Going to court means lawyers’ fees, court costs, appraisal fees, months or even years of delays and countless hours of additional wasted time. Plus, the four of you who want to sell may never speak to the other brother again once you are finished.
Clearly, it would be best for the five of you to reach an agreement. But if you are not able to get your brother to join with your plan, you will have no choice but to go to court.
Fortunately, a few years ago the Texas Legislature adopted a new law called the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act. You can read the entire statute at https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov . Once there, click on Property Code and then chapter 23A.
One purpose of the statute is to make it easier for family members who have inherited real estate as tenants in common to figure out how to divide the ownership rights. The statute was also passed to prevent third-party buyers from purchasing a small percentage of a property, and then going to
court to force a sale at auction where they could then buy the rest of the property at a bargain basement price.
The Act is very complicated; you still need lawyers and the courts, and there will still be a fee paid to an appraiser. In the end, if no resolution of ownership is reached, the court will order that the property must either be divided or sold.
A court-ordered sale would be at auction or by another person appointed by the court to sell the property on your behalf (called a “receiver”). Auctions often get far less than the property is really worth, and the costs associated with a sale by a receiver can be substantial.
The four of you who want to sell should find an experienced real estate attorney in the county where the property is located. Maybe a letter from this attorney to your brother explaining the steps that will eventually take place and your brother’s near-certain inability to gain ownership of the house and prime acreage will convince him it’s best to agree to sell without going to court.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to stateyourcase@lipmanpc. com.