Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York
What exactly does ''Share and share alike'' mean?
My parents passed away leaving a summer home to my brother, my sister and me to ''share and share alike''. My brother is executor. None of us live in the house. The house has become a huge expense because of taxes, etc and I want to sell it. My sister and brother are not sure they want to sell it even though neither of them can really afford to maintain an empty house. Can I sell my 1/3 of the house without their permission? Is there a way I can force them to sell rather than continue to lose money I cannot afford? The house is appraised at $750,000.00 so a lot of money is at stake. Every year we lose money on it thru maintenance and taxes in excess of $12000.00 per year. How can I get them to see reason and sell this house?
Thank you so much! As a retiree with a spouse on disability I really appreciate any guidance you can offer.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: What exactly does ''Share and share alike'' mean?
Once title has been put in all your names you can force them to either buy you out or sell with a partition lawsuit.
Re: What exactly does ''Share and share alike'' mean?
"Share and share alike" means you are equal co-owners, or one-third each. As such, you have equal ownership and equal liability for debts, although most creditors have the right to sue any of you for payments of debts. If you cannot reach some agreement (such as renting the property to cover the costs of maintaining it), you have the right of "partition" which is a suit to compel either the sale of the property or to force your siblings to buy you out. If the house has been a losing proposition, from a cash flow standpoint, you may have a claim against the executor for failing to take action. This can be part of your suit for partition.
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