Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Property Settlement

You have at least a couple of options to accomplish your objective of converting your property interest to cash.

One possibility would be to sell your 1/2 interest to a third party. It may be difficult to find a buyer for only your interest. Any buyer you find will likely want a discount to reflect the value of an undivided interest.

If your co-owner [your mother] refuses to buy your interest or join with you in the sale of 100% of the property to a third party, you could file a partition action in court. You would ask the court to supervise the conduct of a sale of 100% of the property, and divide the net proceeds [after expenses of sale, court costs, expert witnesses, etc] derived from the sale to the co-owners.

Theoretically, you would not need an attorney to do this; however, as a practical matter, depending on your experiences with, and knowledge of, the legal system and after considering the value of the equity and other relevant factors, you would probably be well-advised to have an attorney represent you.

Preventing litigation

Louise Aron

Attorney at Law

Lakewood Office:

1536 South Ingalls

Lakewood, Colorado 80232 USA

(303) 922 7687

fax (303) 922-1370

Cherry Creek Office:

300 South Jackson #100

Denver, Colorado 80209 USA

(303) 780-7339

Satellite offices:

Boulder - 4450 Arapahoe Avenue, #100

DTC - 4610 South Ulster, #150

A TOLL FREE NUMBER is available to clients outside the Denver metro area.

web site http://effectnet.com/la/

email: [email protected]

LawGuru User

Dear LawGuru User:

If you and your mother cannot agree, it is going to cost both of you a great deal of time and money. When co-owners of a property cannot agree on important issues such as whether or not to sell it and for how much, the situation must be settled by court action, and in most cases both parties must retain counsel.

Have you made an offer to buy your mother out? I suggest that you have an attorney write your mother a letter proposing various options and warning her that matters between co-owners must be settled between them, or litigation will occur.

Thank you for contacting LawGuru.

Sincerely,

Louise Aron

web site http://effectnet.com/la/

email: [email protected]

Re: Property Settlement

Both attorneys are correct. I suggest working this out with your mother where you can refinance the house and with the cash your mother could buy out your share and still keep the property. This is the best option, should you need any additional help, my office is in Pittsburgh.

We provide all new clients a free initial consultation.

Sincerely,

Brandon Barnett, Esq.

www.youresquire.net

412-916-1677