1/2 Owner Won't Cooperate

[Ibrahim Hughes]

Hi All. I'm working a deal where 1/2 owner (an elderly woman whose affairs are being handled by her nephew) is willing to sell while the other owner (heirs of the deceased 1/2 owner) refuse to cooperate.

They tried to sell the property in the past (about 3-4 years ago) and all the other 1/2 owner had to do was come down and sign some paperwork and they would have received a check. They never showed up, changed their number and refused to cooperate.

Now the property is under foreclosure by the city for back taxes and the elderly woman/nephew are trying again to sell.

Is there a court maneuver you are aware of that would allow 1/2 owner to sell the entire property. 4 years ago they even went to court to try and force the other side to cooperate. No success.

My thinking is that since the other owner is deceased and (apparently) the estate hasn't been probated, perhaps the elderly woman can become Administrator of the other owner's estate since she has an interest in the property. I saw a case several years ago where a property was going to foreclosure for a mortgage and the borrower was deceased with no next of kin. A judgment holder, in an effort to get paid and not get wiped out by the foreclosure, stepped in and became Admin. of the decedent's estate and sold the property.

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Andy B.]

You need to get the 1/2 owner's estate probated (it should have been done many years ago) - it is strange that this would have gone non-probated for more than 4 years. But, you have to know who legally controls the other half.

Question: How is the ownership held? If they were joint tenants, the death of one party sends that interest to the survivor -- so if this is the case, the woman should own 100%

If it is not a joint tenant, then it may be Tenant's In Common -- which means you can buy the 1/2 interest if you want. Then you can force a partition of the property where the court will split the property as necessary (in half in this case) and if it is not able to be split (if it is a house), the court will force a sale -- at which point you could offer to buy the other half.