Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland
Joint owner won't sell
On 7/12/94 my grandmother signed life estate deed to include her son(my uncle)and granddaughter(me). Since, she lived in several assisted living homes until her death on 12/24/00. He had POA and is executor of will, which the house is not in. The estate is supposed to be settled around 12/01. He has been delinquent in all steps of the probate process. I have asked him repeatedly for several years to sell or auction the house to no avail. He has been paying for upkeep (i.e. taxes, utilities, maintenance, etc.) out of inheritance. He has also taken items he wanted form the house and is now using it for storage due to marital separation. What can I do to sell/auction the house or at least my 1/2 of it?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Joint owner won't sell
It appears that you and the uncle are co-owners of the MD real estate, which would be outside of probate. A sale would likely require filing a petition in court to compel the sale of the property. The answers under MD law will depend on full development of the facts and circumstances. There are MD estate administration issues and MD real estate issues that need to be carefully considered and dealt with here. There are certain time periods that are applicable for administration of a regular estate. An experienced estate planning/administration and real estate attorney should be able to handle this under MD law. Please note that my legal services are available only with a signed engagement agreement. If I can be of any help to you or people you know, give me a call as I would be pleased to provide legal support. Sincerely, Robert Beatson, II; 11-22-2001, 8:25 p.m. EST; Law Offices of Robert Beatson, II; 9818 Glynshire Way, Potomac, MD 20854; Tel/Fax 301-340-2951; email: [email protected]; website: www.beatsonlaw.com; Licensed to practice law in DC, MD, VA, and NY.
Re: Joint owner won't sell
If what she did was deed it to the two of you with a reserved life estate, you are now co-owners. The real property does not go through probate. If you want to sell, you need to either get his agreement or file in court to compel a sale in lieu of partition (or an actual partition if the property is large enough to be realistically capable of being divided into parcels of equal value).
As for the probate, you can ask the court to replace him as personal representative if he is not doing what is required.
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