Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio
In Ohio, my hubby owns lg property with cousins. They are not cooperating with a sale, and one is a well known lawyer and politician. The lawyer, in the past, mentioned another legal case in which this property could have paid off some debts, and he said that he could arrange for it to be sold at a partition auction. He said that it could be sold for pennies on the dollar, and he could arrange for it be bought somehow very cheaply, and then later buy it back. He is a rather shady character. CAn this be explained to the court, and ask for a split in kind, rather in sale? We are afraid we will be screwed. The property is worth 2-3 million.
1 Answer from Attorneys
When two or more people own property together, and one or more of those people wish to sell it, but there one of the owners does not want to cooperate, the process can move forward via a Partition Action. The Judge will appoint one or more Commissioners to evaluate the property and make a determination as to whether or not it can be split up or not. They then make additional determinations, to include the value of the property, and this goes to the Judge in the form of a report. In a worst case scenario, it will go to a Sheriff's auction, which typically, but not always brings in a purchase price below market value. However, there are several steps before that, to include the potential to find a buyer of the property before it goes to auction. If the property is worth a fair amount, it is possible that your have more options as a practical matter than you may think.
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