Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Selling inherited property to sibling or partition action

Much more is at stake here than money and that must normally be considered. I would need to know how your mother and aunt gained ownership, ie., joint tenancy, co-tenancy, etc., to properly advise. It appears a new appraisal may be reasonable based on lack of properties available if many buyers available. While it may be reasonable to deduct some for real estate broker fees, etc., the deduction suggested seems high. Call to discuss. 800-685-6950

Re: Selling inherited property to sibling or partition action

This is a question that requires business judgment and an evaluation of family feelings as much or more that a strictly legal answer.

You seem to understand the legal options pretty well. It might help to know that filing a partition suit would probably cost in the low-four-figure area through the initial months, and into the low-five-figure area in legal costs for each party if it proceeded to hearings, trial, interlocutory judgment, partition sale and final judgment. If the opposition was particularly intense, it could go higher.

A very high percentage of initiated partition actions are settled well short of final judgment.

Your mom is, of course, not in a position to sell anything.

I recommend getting a second appraisal and using that along with the other information as a basis for negotiation. Deducting commission from an appraised value is a legitimate negotiating tactic because appraisers tend to use gross selling price as their target or standard, not net realized price.

However, I would be cautious about market analysis values from agents and brokers. They are looking for listings, and the natural tendency is to give the prospective seller a high number.

Finally, you don't say how your mother and aunt were "added to title." Logically, when people are added to title they become tenants in common, in which case there is a question as to what proportion each owns now, and whether the proportion owned by your grandfather at his death passed to other heirs or to the sisters in other than equal proportions. It is also possible that the sisters became joint tenants with right of survival, but because joint tenancies must arise simultaneously for all joint tenants, "adding" in the usual sens is not possible and a more complex re-deeding process is necessary to give rise to the three-way joint tenancy with right of survival.

You should be crystal clear about the current ownership percentages (and owner identities) and how they arose before attempting to sell any partial interest, etc.