Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Massachusetts

Assuming your brother filed a chapter 7 (you don't mention which chapter he filed under), the Chapter 7 Trustee would typically only be to happy to sell his equity back to either your brother or you. There is a process involved with this. It requires a notice of the intended sale to be sent to all of your brother's creditors. The notice also solicits counter-offers. In my almost 30 years experience in representing debtors, if your brother or you are the potential purchasers of the equity, a third party stepping in to purchase your brother's interest is unlikely. However, if you or your brother are unable to come to an agreement with his Chapter 7 Trustee, your brother's interest in the property could be sold on the open market. In some instances, it could be possible for the trustee to sell a non-debtor's interest, too. It does not usually get to that point. As to the determination of value, that is usually done by using a third-party appraiser. Barry R. Levine