Might buy shared property, any wisdom?

[beenthere]

You write as if the FIL has control over the sale of this property. Is that the case, or is the UIL and AIL also 'in control'?
Sounds like you could leak the information out that the land might be buyable and get more offers. At least it might get the FIL thinking straight. Probably he isn't interested in stirring the pot, and will leave that to his heirs, as the others are doing.
I've put my property in a living trust that will be under the control of the oldest daughter when my wife and I are both gone. That way she can sell it, rent it, or divide it up as she sees best for 'the time'.

 

[Sigarms]

After going though being an executor for my Aunt out of state, I don't envy your "future" position.

You mentioned that every one seems to get along NOW, and I hate to say this, but wait.

Seems that the "more there is on the table" the crazier people can get.

Just an observation, but you mentioned this is your father in law. I could be wrong, but this could cause more trouble for you only for the fact that your not "blood".

Good luck.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( All family kids get along and this was their childhood playground )</font>

Buying up the family farm and then selling to developers could cause a family schism, are you prepared for that? The family farm may be the only inheritance these "kids" will get and it might be more valuable to them than the potential profit from selling.

I'm the son-in-law in a similar situation and learned a long time ago that when it comes to the farm, it's best if I find something else to do whenever the topic of inheritance comes up.

 

[kossetx]

RonR, While it may seem at first to be unfriendly, it is very common for a family member to sue for division of land. If no one can come to an agreement on a solution, let a judge decide. He will appoint a panel of locals to form a plan and he will set a decision. Just the mention of ligation may spur a settlement. Just remember you will have to go by the judges decision.

This happened in my family. One sister wanted to divide and my FIL and another sister saw no reason to. They sued and it was settled reasonable. There were no hard feelings between them other than the initial shock of being sued by a sibling.

 

[Richard]

Father in law is sort of the "kingpin" and as such, if he decides to sell the farm, the others (uncle in law & aunt in law) will follow suit.

If he decides to develop it, decides to hold it... they will follow that too.

That is, THEY will... no one has cast in stone that their offspring will "go along with the plan"

As it is, I've TRIED to get him to put this into a trust, indeed, I even offered to PAY for those expenses. So far, to no avail.

Wife is visiting with him later today, I told her to bring the trust idea back up /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[RonR]

kossetx,

Mom has been to several land lawyers and is trying to work a deal so her son can buy the farm in total (he wants it to run cattle). Sis continues with the statement "I'll think about it"--which has been her mantra for close to 10 yrs now.

Mom might try to get the court to divide it, so she can sell her half, or she might just chuck it and put it in trust--so all the kids can deal with it..........

A bloody mess!

Ron

 

[dmccarty]

Richard,

This is a tough one.

My wife's family has the old family farm that is slowly gaining multiple owners as the older generations pass on. Its a mess. A friend at work has some land tied up where some want to sell and other don't. Its just a big mess.

My wife started work as a Real Estate Broker last year and in her limited time she is bumping into these situations as well. Right now she has some land up for sale that was inherited by 5 or six family members. Thankfully the land was subdivided so everyone got an equal piece. Some want to sell and some dont. It would be better if they would all sell due to easement and road issues. At least the family members are FRIENDLY towards each other. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I THINK I would say to run away from the property. BUT, you can't. You are in because of your wife. So what to do?

What really disturbs me is your FIL inaction with the property regarding inheritence as well as not wanting to advertise the land for sale. That is just asking to loose lots of money.

Can you get an agent to run comparables for you? My wife does these things all the time and it does not cost a cent. Course she hopes to get to sell the land some day but sometimes you do and sometimes you dont. If you can't or don't want to use an agent can you spend the dollars to get the land appraised to show your FIL? If he sees what the land is worth that might help him make decisions. And it certainly should keep him from being ripped off by the first buyer to knock on the door. If the value of the land is so much more than he realizes maybe it will cause him to rethink the Trust idea. Especially if he sees how much money will leave the family to go to the State and Federal government in taxes.

I hate to see people sell land like this. Its like watching someone sell timber to the first logger that knocks on the door.... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif And often its the elderly. We heard about a couple who had some land that a developer was after. They are elderly and some of the things we heard bothered us so the wifey ran down to have a chat with the couple. She ended up running comparables for them. The developers offer was not bad but it certainly was low. The couple does not know if they want to sell or not but at least they know what is a reasonable offer.

Later,
Dan

 

[BB_TX]

I don't have any advice. The right 3 people can and sometimes do get along on such matters. But 12 people, never. As others stated, this will turn into a nightmare and probably a break or multiple breaks in the family.

 

[Unclebuck257]

About a year ago, my MIL FINALLY got an old family ranch sold and settled. It was originally bought by her grandfather and his brother, each owning equally. By the time the serious idea of selling it came around, there were 12 grandkids (my MIL and her brothers and sisters and cousins) The serious idea of selling came about because IF the next generation of kids came along as heirs (my wife, her siblings, her cousins etc) there would have been about 36 people to agree on price, what to do, etc. My MIL and her generation knew that would be a real mess, so they decided to sell it while there was only 12 and they were basically in agreement.

Even then there was disagreement over keeping or not keeping mineral rights, and price per acre with and without, etc. Finally after three years and numerous offers, they all agreed to sell it to two of her cousins, at a reasonable price, and they all keep the mineral rights equally. Oh, and they ALL get along and have never had a problem between them either. At one point during this 3 years though, things started to get a little rough around the edges over price etc.

You are not actual blood in this and I can assure you that with money involved here, someone will accuse YOU of slanting this to your own benifit, no matter what you do, at the financial expense of the others. That's just human nature and my feeling is that you stay out of it.

 

[California]

I'm familiar with four similar situations and let's just say none of them turned out well.

After the death of a principal, some heirs suddenly reveal agendas they held secret for years because they weren't willing to battle it out with an ageing parent, aunt, etc. And they will make you dance to their tune now that they finally have the power to do so. Or one of them will tie everyones hands as the indecision that created this mess is passed down to new (non)decisionmakers.

If you and your wife are one among 12 parties who will inherit, the odds that every single one of the others, (spouses included) is both reasonable AND has the same needs and goals as you ... well that seems unlikely. Since you married into this family I don't think you can do anything, just watch as a train wreck approaches over several years.

Just this morning I got a knock on the door. My neighbor had died a couple of years ago and this guy was hired by the attorney as the second person who tried to help the heir clean out the house.

He said he just quit, she (the heir) was incapable of deciding or delegating the simplest issues. He said he had spent 9 hours total holding up old dresses etc for her decision, with literally nothing decided. And this is just a normal house with the usual furnishings, nothing the heir can really use since her own home is already cluttered.

This guy I saw today was the second person to be put through this torture. Previously another goodhearted neighbor had taken care of mail, lights, etc at the vacant house for two years with no pay and no thanks then was shunned by the heir because she 'wasn't doing enough' after some similar attempts to help sort out the stuff.

Good luck.