Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
Property Sale
My mother passed away Sept.,1999. She left a will drawn up by a lawyer. There are my two sisters, myself,and my deceased brother's four children. Everything is to be divided equally when sold. Some don't want to sale the homeplace, but the grandchildren want it sold. My question, can we be made to sale by the grandchildren(my deceased brother's children)?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Property Sale
Whether you can be made to sell the property
depends on what it says in the Will. Ordinarily,
you can simply give each grandchild their undivided
interest in the property. However, if you do this,
they can file suit in court to force the sale of
the property anyway. So, even though the estate
cannot be forced to sell unless the Will so
provides, you can end up being forced to sell.
The best approach is to get a fair market value
appraisal of the property and then offer the
grandchildren cash for their share. This may
require refinancing of the property if there is
not enough cash in the estate to permit a cash
distribution to the grandchildren in lieu of
their interest in the real estate.
Our firm can assist you to resolve this matter
if you wish. Call us at 800-817-4529. If you
already have an attorney helping with the estate,
you should talk with him/her first.
Good luck!