Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Utah

I am the trustee of my mother’s estate. She passed away one year ago and there is one asset left to dissolve (a farm).

There are seven beneficiaries to the estate. One wants to sell the farm ASAP, six want to hold on to it for 5-10 years as an investment.

Can one beneficiary legally force the sale? As far as I can tell, there is nothing in the trust that says so, just that assets are divided equally among the beneficiaries.

If the six were to buy out the one, how is that $ amount figured? If we do a straight 1/7th of the fair market value, the six loose because they were to sell today there would be realtor fees etc, that would bring that number down a bit. As well as the legal fees involved.

Thanks!


Asked on 8/10/18, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Randy Lish Randy M. Lish, Attorney at Law

Sorry for the delay in responding, but I was out of the office for a few days. One beneficiary can force the sale of the property. The alternative is for the beneficiary who wants to sell to be bought out by the remaining beneficiaries. The amount of the buy-out is determined by the fair market value at the time of the buy-out. Sorry, the beneficiary who wants out cannot participate in the increase in value of the property after he is bought out. There should be no realtor fees when the property is being bought by the remaining beneficiaries. The only fees that should be paid may be for a title insurance policy.

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Answered on 8/14/18, 9:33 am


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