California | Real Estate Law
Legal Question
My uncle bought a house in 20 years ago for $230,000 and his sister paid $11,000 to help with the down payment, so she was put on the deed. She has not paid a penny ever since and she occupies a bedroom with her stuff even though she never lives in the house. Now the house is worth about $500,000. She wants $100,000 to go back to Hong Kong. My uncle was really shocked and disheartened by this.
The sister is entitled to 50% of the ownership since the deed did not specify the percentage, so she should get $250K. My uncle and his sister were on the mortgage but my uncle single-handedly paid off everything. So 20 years of expenses are about $540K in total. $80K(property tax)+$50K(maintenance)+$200K(mortgage principal)+$200K(mortgage interest expenses)+$10K(homeowner insurance). I have not included utilities. So does that mean that the sister should pay my uncle 50% of the $540K, which is $270K? Is the court going to handle the case like this? also if the sister's share would be one half of the home's current fair market value less an approximate 10% for having a fractionalized interest. What does the 10% fractional interest reduction mean?
What do you think is the reasonable amount that the court will award the sister?
Thank you!
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