Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

If the parent who died had no living spouse and that person did not have a will, as per the state intestacy laws, all would go to the children. Assuming there are no debts or claims and the heirs take free and clear, this is a problem where the heirs do not agree. Its a bad idea anyway for more than 2 people to own land like this so I have a couple suggestions.

Is the land capable of being divided equally or roughly equally? If so, it might be easiest to have the land surveyed and new deeds drawn up giving each child his part. The one who wants to sell, can sell; the one who wants to keep it can keep it.

Land is unique and if the land cannot be divided, then the heirs could do the following: (1) those who want it need to buy out the shares of those who don't want it. Those who want it may have to take out an equity loan, if they qualify, to raise the needed cash. Only borrow what is needed to buy out the other siblings shares. You value the share by agreeing to have the property appraised and dividing the agreed upon appraisal price by the number of heirs. Example: 5 heirs and land is worth $100,000. Each share for each heir is $20,000.

While real estate prices are currently in the dumper depending on where you are located, this was not always the case and inevitably, one of the heirs had a ridiculous idea about the land's worth. Its cheaper if the heirs can all agree and get one appraisal, but if they can't, I suggest the heirs form two camps - those who want it and those who don't. Each camp can select their own appraiser and pay for it. The 2 appraisers will then select a neutral third arbitrator and the parties will split the costs. The parties will then take all three appraisals and average them together to come up with a reasonable number. The appraisals, if done correctly, should be relatively close anyway.

If the heirs absolutely cannot agree and refuse to mortgage the land, then any of the heirs can seek partition. There are no forms and whoever wants it will have to go to a lawyer and have them file a complaint. The other heirs can defend and if they don't, then the person who filed will get what they want. Generally, the court will have the property valued and if the heirs who want it can't work out a buyout then the land will be sold to the highest bidder and the money divided. The highest bidder could be one of the sibings who wants it or not. Its a risk.

The third option may work if there is a good-sized farm that has been in the family for generations and nobody really wants it sold but somebody does not want the expense either. In such case, the heirs need to hire an attorney that does things like family partnerships, llcs or living trusts. The heirs convey the land to the trust/partnership/llc. The family appoints someone to manage it - could be the children or an outsider. They need an agreement stating what will happen if someone dies or wants out. If someone wants out, there needs to be a mechanism where the trust/llc/partnership will buy out the person's share. If a child or grandchild wants in and they are not included, they should be allowed to buy into the trust/parnership/entity as well. All income produced from the property (either leasing it out, selling timber) gets paid to the trust/llc/partnership. The income is used to pay for things like the taxes, insurance or maintenance (like the barn needs a new roof or something). Anything left over can be paid to the heirs for that year or left to grow for a rainy day fund.