The inheritance of a house between brothers

By the law of life, there comes a time when all of us become orphans. It is a moment of great sadness that is immediately followed by the division of the inheritance among the siblings. But what happens when the inheritance consists of only one house and there is no agreement between them? Here we will answer this question.

Common problems when selling the inheritance of a flat between siblings

The inheritance of a house between siblings is usually especially problematic when there are no other assets that make up the inheritance. The reason for this is that, very often, one of them refuses to sell his or her share.

It should be borne in mind that, after the death of the last parent, the flat inherited by several siblings becomes the property of all of them in equal shares. Therefore, when it comes to selling it, all of them, without exception, must give their consent.

What happens on most occasions is that one or more of them, either because of their normal sentimental attachment to the property, or because they are still going through the mourning process, or simply because they want to wait for a better moment when property prices have risen, refuses to sell their inheritance.

It is also increasingly common that some of the siblings want to obtain a return on the property by renting it out and the rest urgently need the money from the sale, or that one of them wants to buy the share of the others and the latter refuse because they prefer to transfer it to a third party.

In any case, these problems are difficult to solve and generate a great deal of family conflict.

Selling a flat between siblings: agreement, the best solution

Undoubtedly, when we are faced with an inheritance of a house between siblings, the best solution to resolve the conflict is always to reach an agreement between all parties. And the fact is that, through the courts, it is going to be very difficult to force someone to part with something that legitimately belongs to them.

In this sense, our advice is that the first step to take should always be to appraise the property. This is essential when selling a flat between siblings, as it provides the possibility of knowing the exact value of the property and its real situation in order to subsequently analyse which of all the existing options is the most convenient.

What can you do if your sibling does not want to sell the inheritance?

If you have tried unsuccessfully to convince your siblings to sell the house, you should know that you still have options to dispose of your share of the property, although they are rather more complex and, in most cases, less beneficial to you in financial terms. Let's take a look at them:

Selling your share of the inheritance between siblings

Many people do not want to continue to own their inherited home for a variety of reasons. They may need the money to make another payment, they may not want to bear the costs associated with it, or they may simply not be interested in having a second home in terms of taxation. In this case, there is nothing to prevent you from selling your share of the property to a third party. However, this is rather complex and does not happen very often.

For example, if you have inherited your parents' house together with two siblings, you would be entitled to 33.3% of the property, which you could sell at any time. In fact, there are real estate companies that make such acquisitions, albeit at a price considerably lower than the real market value of the property due to the complexity of the situation.

However, there is an additional problem. The law, in these cases, foresees that the remaining co-owners (the other two siblings) have a right of first refusal. By this we mean that any of the beneficiaries of the inheritance can match the offer made by the real estate company and automatically keep their share.

Division of the common property: is it possible to divide a flat inherited by several siblings?

Some people, when they cannot reach an agreement with their siblings, resort to the courts to request the division or partition of the common property, i.e. the home they share with them. If the claim is upheld, the judge would force the property to be physically divided in equal parts among all its owners, so that each of them could do with theirs as they see fit.

However, this is a formula that is generally only allowed in the case of single-family dwellings and excludes flats. This is due to the fact that this type of dwellings located within communities of neighbours are indivisible. The only possibility would be for the property to be made up of two or more houses joined together and for each of them to have an independent access.

The public auction of a flat shared between siblings

This is, frankly, the worst of all possible situations. If one or more of the siblings involved continue in their determination to sell their part of the property and the rest do not, the judge may consider that, in order to resolve the conflict, the most convenient thing to do is to sell the property by public auction and then, once the expenses associated with the sale and which correspond to the seller have been deducted, divide the money obtained equally between them.

As a general rule, flats and houses sold through the public auction system fetch a much lower price than in the normal real estate market. In addition, not only the costs of sale to associates should be added, but also the legal costs arising from the auction. It is therefore a very damaging operation for the heirs in economic terms, but the only viable alternative at this point.

In short, the inheritance of a house between siblings is a matter that can become so entrenched that all the co-owners end up losing money or, at least, earning much less than they could if they were to sell it on the free real estate market. For this reason, we insist once again that reaching an agreement, even if the presence of mediators is necessary, is always the best solution when it is not possible to proceed to the partition of the common property, and there is no desire to go to public auction after a long judicial process.