Selling a house as a community of heirs

What you need:

• Certificate of inheritance

If the testator left you a house with other heirs, you must all agree on how you want to deal with the house. There are different possibilities.

In a community of heirs, unanimity applies

• In extreme cases it happens that the community of heirs cannot agree on anything and is divided. Then you can actually do little or nothing with the house. Fortunately, if it is rented, you will still receive the rental income. If it is not rented, which is often the case with parental homes, the house will be empty after the death of the testator as the last resident. If this condition persists over the years, the house will fall into disrepair and may become a target for burglars and tramps overnight.
instagram viewer
• A concrete example is a tenement house that suffers exactly this fate and is noticeably falling apart. The community of heirs does not find a common denominator and is more willing to abandon their inheritance to decay than to make sensible use of it.
• The problem in these cases is that every heir in a community of heirs has the same rights and no one can decide anything on their own without the consent of all the other heirs. Decisions can only be made unanimously. If one of the heirs refuses, everything remains as it is.

Only sell the house with everyone's consent

• The cause of this annoyance is often that one of the heirs appeals immediately after the inheritance feels to go ahead and move into or sell the house himself without consulting the co-heirs would like to. Does he hire a broker with the sale, the other heirs feel offended in their honor, one bad word leads to another and fate takes its course.


Selling a house with a community of heirs - you have to pay attention to this

Several heirs form a community of heirs. Each co-heir can at any time ...

• So if you want to use or exploit or sell the house in some way, do not do anything without informing the other heirs and only initiate an activity with their consent. It is best if all heirs sit down and discuss the situation objectively. There may be different interests. If it is your parental home, some heirs may want to prevent third parties from moving in and keep the family home.
• Another option may be to agree to rent the house first and take your time and see if you want to sell it.
• You have to keep in mind that a house is ongoing costs arranged (property tax, maintenance) and its value does not necessarily increase if it is uninhabited and a renovation backlog forms.

Have the market value determined by an expert

• If one of the heirs wants to move into the house himself, he has to pay off everyone else. The purchase price must be in line with the market and fair. If necessary, have an expert report drawn up, which becomes the basis for determining the purchase price.
• If you want to sell the house, hire a neutral broker. If you offer it yourself, you might arouse suspicion about your objectivity towards others.
• The prerequisite for the sale is that all co-heirs as owners in the Land register are registered. There are no land registry fees and no real estate transfer tax for the transfer.
• If one of the co-heirs should have a creditor behind them, there is a risk that the creditor will seize the share of the inheritance. This also creates unrest and uncertainty. The co-heir can avoid this risk by foregoing his inheritance share. Then the next legal inheritance automatically comes into play. If it is a question of one's own child, ultimately the co-heir who does not benefit as well.