The postings in answer to this question suggest several scenarios for settling an estate and distributing the home equity to the children.
The best plan for you depends on your circumstances. An Estate Planning - Probate Attorney in your state who understands your facts can give you the insights you need to make a good plan.
Topics to cover with the Attorney include: your health and whether it's likely that you will need long term care in the future; whether you want to keep your options open to cash out the home equity and use it for a new living situation in the future; any mortgage debt currently on the house.
Discussing these topics helps the advisor recommend Probate and non-Probate methods; Will substitutes like Trusts and life ownership arrangements for real estate could provide alternatives.
If the house is paid for, and your Will is an interim plan to cover unexpected sudden death, the Probate process would give the surviving child who wants the property a chance to refinance and buy out the other siblings.
If the Will based plan stays in effect and you need Medicaid in the future, your state's Medicaid agency will be able to recover from the Probate estate for any expenses incurred after age 55.
In my state (Massachusetts) the way to think about Medicaid for people over age 55 is: it's free, unless you have a Probate estate.
This is pretty common that one person wants the house, and unfortunately that one person very often seems to be the deadbeat of the family. You need to inform the executor that you expect the will to be administered as it is written. If the one child wants the house, they can purchase it at fair market value and the proceeds then be divided between the four. If the one person cannot qualify for a mortgage, or doesn't have the cash to purchase it outright, too bad.
The child who wants the house will have to buy the other three children's shares. To find out how much money this will cost, the children can get the house valued (by a valuer they all agree to use) and negotiate what price will be acceptable.
As long as the children are all content with this arrangement and patient while it gets sorted out there's no reason it shouldn't work perfectly well.
Is the 1 child likely to be in a position to "buy out" his/her three siblings?
If deeded to all offspring, any one of them, or any other number can say no to having one of the heirs buy the house.....It might not be a happy event, but that is the law.
Or the one child who wants the house can "buy out" the other three children. Does the house have a mortgage? If yes, then the children need to realize it is the equity that is divided up, not the fair market value on the house.
If the house has no mortgage, then I would highly recommend that the children hire a licensed Appraiser to give a fair market value on the house. Yes, one could use a Realtor but a Realtor doesn't dig as deep in regard to the house value, and some could come up with a higher value then what the house would sell.
When I was going to sell my Dad's house, even though I had been a licensed REALTOR for decades, I hired a licensed Appraiser as the house was going to be sold "as is". The house sold pretty close to noted appraised value.
The person who receives the house must be able to support themself and the house expenses, and any mortgage.
There are many ways to divide the estate. See a lawyer who is NAELA certified.
If there is no mortgage and the house is the only major asset, you may have the siblings arguing after your death. Please make arrangements now.
Can the person who "wants" the house afford to go out and buy a similar property at today's prices? The discount would only be 1/4 (his/her own share).
Like CM said, the child who buys the house buys the other 3 out. Lets say the house is worth 200k. Thats 50k each child. So the one child pays the other 3 50k each, a total of 150k. You can have your will read like that.
The problem arises that this all changes if ur ever on Medicaid. Medicaid gets to recoup the cost of your care from the sale of your house. Beneficiaries get what is left.
Gesha, the 1 child who wants the house, give that child a box of Kleenex for now.
Your Will is your expressed wishes as to WHAT YOU WANT DONE WITH "YOUR" POSSESSIONS, NOT YOUR CHILDREN'S WANTS/DESIRES.
The child, who apparently is acting as such, can have the house once YOUR ESTATE HAS BEEN PROBATED.
BEFORE THE HOUSE IS SOLD, most likely the offer will need to be presented to the Court, must have specific verbiage which an Attorney will need to draw up. The Court will review the offer and THE COURT WILL DECIDE IF THE OFFER IS REASONABLE FOR THE AREA YOU'RE CURRENTLY LIVING i.e. MARKET VALUE.
With that in mind, the actual profit after taxes, escrow etc, then that will be divided by 4. IF the child still wants the house, that particular child WILL HAVE TO "BUY" THE HOUSE FROM THE OTHER 3 SIBLINGS.
Meaning, the child wanting the house will need to pay the other 3 what they will receive after the division of profit.
So if the child who wants the house makes an offer and the profit of the house would be $400.000, each child would receive $100.000. The child who wants the house will NEED TO PAY EACH SIBLING $100.000 TO "BUY" THE HOUSE FROM THEM.
Your other children are entitled to receive what you want them to have, so don't give in to the child trying to guilt trip you.
You sure make a lot of assumptions about the child wanting the house.....for all anyone knows this is just a hypothetical question. Nowhere does the OP mention anything about being given a guilt trip
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The best plan for you depends on your circumstances. An Estate Planning - Probate Attorney in your state who understands your facts can give you the insights you need to make a good plan.
Topics to cover with the Attorney include:
your health and whether it's likely that you will need long term care in the future;
whether you want to keep your options open to cash out the home equity and use it for a new living situation in the future;
any mortgage debt currently on the house.
Discussing these topics helps the advisor recommend Probate and non-Probate methods; Will substitutes like Trusts and life ownership arrangements for real estate could provide alternatives.
If the house is paid for, and your Will is an interim plan to cover unexpected sudden death, the Probate process would give the surviving child who wants the property a chance to refinance and buy out the other siblings.
If the Will based plan stays in effect and you need Medicaid in the future, your state's Medicaid agency will be able to recover from the Probate estate for any expenses incurred after age 55.
In my state (Massachusetts) the way to think about Medicaid for people over age 55 is: it's free, unless you have a Probate estate.
https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/estate-recovery/index.html
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p
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As long as the children are all content with this arrangement and patient while it gets sorted out there's no reason it shouldn't work perfectly well.
Is the 1 child likely to be in a position to "buy out" his/her three siblings?
https://budgeting.thenest.com/buy-out-siblings-share-real-estate-30528.html
grace + peace,
Bob
If the house has no mortgage, then I would highly recommend that the children hire a licensed Appraiser to give a fair market value on the house. Yes, one could use a Realtor but a Realtor doesn't dig as deep in regard to the house value, and some could come up with a higher value then what the house would sell.
When I was going to sell my Dad's house, even though I had been a licensed REALTOR for decades, I hired a licensed Appraiser as the house was going to be sold "as is". The house sold pretty close to noted appraised value.
There are many ways to divide the estate. See a lawyer who is NAELA certified.
If there is no mortgage and the house is the only major asset, you may have the siblings arguing after your death. Please make arrangements now.
Can the person who "wants" the house afford to go out and buy a similar property at today's prices? The discount would only be 1/4 (his/her own share).
If so, are you paying them? If not, would you consider the house as payment for past care that child provided?
The problem arises that this all changes if ur ever on Medicaid. Medicaid gets to recoup the cost of your care from the sale of your house. Beneficiaries get what is left.
Your Will is your expressed wishes as to WHAT YOU WANT DONE WITH "YOUR" POSSESSIONS, NOT YOUR CHILDREN'S WANTS/DESIRES.
The child, who apparently is acting as such, can have the house once YOUR ESTATE HAS BEEN PROBATED.
BEFORE THE HOUSE IS SOLD, most likely the offer will need to be presented to the Court, must have specific verbiage which an Attorney will need to draw up. The Court will review the offer and THE COURT WILL DECIDE IF THE OFFER IS REASONABLE FOR THE AREA YOU'RE CURRENTLY LIVING i.e. MARKET VALUE.
With that in mind, the actual profit after taxes, escrow etc, then that will be divided by 4. IF the child still wants the house, that particular child WILL HAVE TO "BUY" THE HOUSE FROM THE OTHER 3 SIBLINGS.
Meaning, the child wanting the house will need to pay the other 3 what they will receive after the division of profit.
So if the child who wants the house makes an offer and the profit of the house would be $400.000, each child would receive $100.000. The child who wants the house will NEED TO PAY EACH SIBLING $100.000 TO "BUY" THE HOUSE FROM THEM.
Your other children are entitled to receive what you want them to have, so don't give in to the child trying to guilt trip you.