Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Tenants In Common

Why is your nephew not agreeing to sell? Does he need the property for his own home? It is unrealistic for him to hold out if he cannot afford to buy your interest and maintain the property.

Was your mother's estate administered and the property transferred to you and your nephew after payment of all of the estate debts and obligations? Is the house free and clear, or it is subject to a mortgage and/or other liens and judgments? All of those have to be paid off. If you sell the home, proceeds of the sale will be applied at the settlement to pay off mortgage and other liens and judgments, but the purchase price must be high enough to cover those and the closing costs. The inheritance tax must also have been paid on the estate.

I can't give you an idea of the cost of a partition action, but you can tell your nephew that going through the court to resolve this will cost more money that you will realize on the sale of the house, and that you would both be far better off selling the home yourselves with a qualified Realtor and/or real estate lawyer assisting you. Even without having lawyers, in a partition action you will each have to pay filing fees with the Court, and may need to pay for appraisals of the property. These costs cannot be deferred, but must be paid as they come up.

U. S. law does not automatically assess legal fees against a losing party. You may have gotten this idea because in the U.K. the losing party does pay legal fees of the winning party as well as the loser's own fees.

Even if your nephew needs a home, he would have a better chance if he agrees to sell the property and divide the net proceeds with you. Then you would each have money, in his case, to find a home, and in yours, to help you with your financial needs.

Re: Tenants In Common

You asked about selling a property at partition.

My strong recommendation is that both parties agree to sell the property prior to a court battle.

There is no question that partition is not a good solution in this circumstance. It will become bogged down in the paperwork, will be frustrating for both sides and in the end both sides end of losing. Partition sales rarely bring a good bring and _never_ _ever_ bring top dollar.

Not to mention that the administrative fees go to the actual selling price as does the real estate broker's fee (which is higher at partition).

If the parties sell privately they could do so without the administrative or court fees and even without an agent or better, a reduced, negotiated brokerage fee.

And no, the fees do not get absorbed by the losing party because there is no losing party. There is no actual dispute where you are simply asking the court to determine the distribution of equitable property.

To put it bluntly, both parties are really stupid if this matter must be resolved at partition. Partition should be reserved for where there is a question as to the distribution of the proceeds (such as if the parties dispute the percentages of ownership).

Regards,

Roger