Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Hampshire
Family house
I own a house (clear) in Merrimack NH with 5 of my siblings. My father died almost 10 years ago. Now we as all listed each on the deed & our oldest brother (lives on site)handles everything (badly). The rest of us trusted him & had little infomation from him but have found out that he hasn't been keeping up with repairs & ''robbing Peter to pay Paul'' with household accounts. He saids he has always ''paid it back'' & taxes are paid but were late & he has a lot of debt. Sould be change to a LLC or a trust? Any other suggestions? We thought it might work for us to change the nature of the arragnment so we all could see what was going on at all times.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Family house
These are complex situations, especially where family is involved. What may be "good" for you, might not be "good" for one or more of your siblings.
You all own the house together. I'm assuming that your father's intent was that you would all equally share in the benefits and burdens of ownership. The relationship has changed. Is there a written agreement among the family members as to what rent your brother is paying? Who is reporting the income or losses for tax purposes?
In most family situations one member does not wish his or her financial dealings to be disclosed to the others. Often the best solution is for one or more siblings to sell his or her interest to the remaining (one in possession of the house) sibling.
Sometimes we work these out using a mortgage and promissory note so that the money can be paid over time. There are many other options. The best advice I can offer is that you really need to sit down with an attorney and all the documents pertaining to the ownership and use of the house.
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