Posted on 02/16/2020 8:03:42 PM PST by madison10
This is swirling in my brain and there seems to be no good answer:
I am executor of my parents' estate. My mom passed away less than a month ago. In order to distribute the estate according to the will the farm property (and probably house) will have to be sold...or something.
Problem 1: the property has been in the family over 150 years. No one in the family farms it. We are at the end of progeny who "might" want to farm it. The one possibility is in high school still. All of the adult children but one live adjacent to the property.
Problem 2: one sibling who cared for our parents (sibling received a regular paycheck from parents for their care and lived with parents) currently lives in the family home. Said sibling is single, almost 50, has trouble walking due to arthritis, and now has no job. The fourth home "on" the property is where the sibling lives.
Problem 3:The house is 44 years old and has not been updated much. The yard is probably at least three acres to mow. Honestly, I am not sure the other siblings would want to buy the house or are able. It needs fixing up for sure.
The dilemma is: what would YOU suggest occur? There seems to be no answer in my brain. There is the business side of this, but the emotional/legacy side is tearing me up. Not sleeping a ton.
Thank you, oh wise ones.
SELL it and distribute the money equally. This is from experience. my wifes family had almost the same exact situation.Unless everyone is wealthy AND a saint any other solufion will break your family apart.
Sorry for your loss. Your mom and dad wanted it handled a certain way, probably because they knew there would be difficulties. Check with your siblings, speak honestly, if there is a hint or smidgeon of controversy or animosity do as your parents wish.
Good luck.,
Sound advice. Unless you can consent for it to be farmed/sharecropped, selling it will return the land to productivity.
Bookmark
You could just carve out the house and whatever amount of land they are comfortable maintaining, up to 3 acres but perhaps less, appraise it and that could be their share plus any extra from proceeds, or sell entire thing and they can move into a better active adult community. As for others, have a meeting and say you can do this the straight up way and sell everything & divide proceeds or if their are objections, you can do it differently as long as their is consensus.
I’ve been the executor for several estates.
Honestly, if there is a will...you don’t have a problem. You are legally obligated to execute the will. Period. You cannot decide to follow one part of it, and not the other.
Sit down with your siblings and share the will. Tell them what you have to do. You have time. Most of the estates I did took almost a year to finalize.
You also need to take a couple thousand out of the estate and go talk to a lawyer. They can give you an idea of accommodations for your sibling on the property.
Sigh. It is such a difficult time. Try to keep your family together, madison10.
We were lucky, in that my wife and I did not feel that we wanted a claim to anything in my mother and father’s estate, so it was easier for us to navigate...we only really had to deal with the emotion of loss until things came to a head and we were drawn into it...regrettably.
I have been complimented over the years for my tact, but when I am emotional, I can become quite blunt, and that bluntness only widened the developing chasm in our family.
Try and avoid that if you can.
Then let the individual who wishes to keep the property payoff the others with their share of the estate value.
Just went through something similar (like two months ago). Listen to your business side and do as the will states. If it says to divide the property equally, then it should be sold and divided. If someone is living in the house, then give him the opportunity to purchase the house perhaps at a modestly reduced cost with no realty fees (as long as the others agree). If he can’t afford it, then that is business.
Always remember there is more than you who have a stake in the property. Trust me, no one is going to be happy at the end of this. What you want to strive for is fairness in the division of property. If you play favorites, then you are just going to make someone else really mad and they could come back on you legally as the executor.
When my wife’s Dad died (her Mom went first), her sister had been “caring for him” (living for free and making herself up to resemble her Mom), the will asked for a 3 way split between the kids...the sister wanted the house so my wife and her brother told her she could by their 3rds if she was serious....she did so and is eternally pissed because the old place has lots of problems...
I’d suggest seeing if anyone wants it bad enough to buy the others’ shares....smart thing would be to sell it because the sentimental value will fade with time and the actual, enduring responsibilities will grow proportionally...
Incorporate the farm. Lease it out. Distribute the lease payments among beneficiaries.
Family retains ownership, gets tax benefits, continuing income.
“If”, down the line, a family member wants to actually farm the dirt, they can take over the lease.
Let all sibs know the situation and run by them the idea of dividing the property, with the arthritic sib getting that fourth home if that works out equitably. But really, unless you know what the options are and what the sibs would want given the options, I don’t think you should decide this.
E.g., the arthritic sib might want the small inheritance as a financial cushion and to move into an apartment closer to town, or whatever.
Very economical and “Green”! Except those critters fart and release methane gas. Very bad. The enviro-Nanzis will bury you.
You can’t win.
/s
Nothing within the article indicates anything about the wishes of the testator concerning the disposition of the property outside of selling it. The wishes of the deceased are your first priority and are the easiest and safest way to dispose. If you do that, then you can look at yourself in the mirror in the morning. You didn’t make the decision, the person you represent did. The minute you start varying from the written will, you are creating your own issues.
I was the executor for my parents and my wife hers. We’ve done four of these and they may not be fun, but they are necessary for the wishes of the deceased and their comfort in their latter years that their wishes are going to be accomplished. They won’t know you changed it, but you and the rest of the family will. And the parents knew they wouldn’t be around forever. The family should have, also.
rwood
Your situation is nearly exactly like ours, was. We sold the tillable land (an 1870 homestead) to a respectable neighbor who we grew up with. Kept the building site and the home because we celebrated family reunions at the farm for decades, and as a place at which to tell our children about their roots, grandparents, uncles/aunts, etc. However, the home is falling apart, and we have discussed razing it, but still keep the building site for possible future family reunions. From the proceeds of the land sale, 3 of us purchased the 4th share from a sibling, created an LLC, installed security system, hired a mower to mow when needed so as to make the place look “lived in”, etc. None of us are geo-close to the property. Alternatively, you could rent the tillable land out to a neighbor and split the proceeds at year end. However, that can become a PITA for annual tax filing, etc. But in your case could be useful in helping to assist in costs for homebody there.
Wow. Your dad's secretary had NO inkling whatsoever of this guy's intentions?
SOMEONE should report him to the State Bar Association.
What a jackass.
Does this mean that ALL lawyers are like him?
I'm afraid you're right. She won't get much HERE for her efforts.
Yeah, we thought the same thing as well. But everyone around knows we let our dogs run the property freely. We haven’t had any problems. At least not yet and its turning out to be more lucrative than either of us anticipated.
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