Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

You need to come to an agreement with your brother. If he is using the house exclusively, he should be paying you half the rental value. Another option would be for him to pay 100% of the real estate expenses if he has exclusive use of the house.

In my opinion, you should have the property appraised, and have him buy out your interest [and if he won't, you should seek a judicial partition]. There is no upside to you allowing him to live there.

This is a typical problem in estates. The smartest move would be for you to get an independent appraiser that both you and you and your brother select, to determine the value of the house. You could then have your brother obtain a mortgage for half the value of the house to purchase your interest. Unless your brother is unemployed or has an exceptionally bad credit history, since the loan to value ratio is 50%, your brother should easily be able to obtain a mortgage. This prevents the problem of your brother having to make payments to you and when he doesn't make the payment you and he having to fight.

That is why I discourage people from leaving property jointly to their children.

I hope this helps!

Ronald J Cappuccio

www.SaveYourEstate.com