My husband's parent's recently passed away. As part of their estate they left their rental property (8 duplexes - 16 rental units) to their four children. My husband and his brother want to leave the property in tact and eventually sell to an investor (there is no mortgage on the property) but the sisters want the executor (attorney) to divide the duplexes so that each of the siblings have two duplexes titled to them individually. The duplexes vary by square footage and yr constructed and two are unoccupied. I'm looking for a valid point to steer the sisters into leaving the rental properties as one business until they are sold. Any help will be appreciated.

Who is the Executor of the Will of the person who died last?

Was the Will probated?

If so a value has been placed on each property. Yes, two of the parties can force distribution as long as it is equal. They will need an Attorney to do so. They are entitled to inherit now. They do not have to wait until some future date.

Buying the 2 out today, at today's prices, and then selling at a future date to an investor is, of course, always an option.

The executor is their mother's attorney, will was probated. The will gave the executor full power of decision making regarding the estate..

Okay, thanks for the info. Giving the Attorney full power is not unusual.

So there are two choices: Sell all and divide equally; buy out the two. The 2 (out of 4) can force distribution unless the Will states otherwise.

99.9% distribution is made as soon as estate taxes are paid, debts are paid, the estate is ready to be closed.

Thanks so much for answering my question. So, if I understand the options correctly, if two want to keep the properties together (current situation) and sell as a whole, but two want the duplexes titled to them individually (which would be difficult to equitably divide), as long as the offers are made to buy out the interests it could be an acceptable solution. The problem is that two are insisting that they do not want to sell their interest, but want to handle the sales of their own individually titled duplexes. One sister warned that unless an agreement is reached, we will pay thousands in attorney fees.

I'd start by telling the sister to stop warning you. It is the Executor's job to oversee the distribution of the property. I don't see that there were any instructions more specific than that.

All 4 are entitled to equal shares based on current value. If all properties are of equal value it's one situation to break off 1 or 2. If they are not it's going to require some creative accounting and perhaps adding or subtracting other assets to even things out. Do you know what I mean?

In my State (NY) the properties would be evaluated, Deeds would be drawn and title would pass to all 4 individually. If 2 want to hold on and sell later, that's fine. If 2 want to sell immediately, they can do that. If the parcels are separate, the Deeds are separate.

Now that I've gone through this I'm wondering - are the duplexes all on the same property? If so, yes, the sister can force a sale in order to get her share now - unless she is bought out.

What does the estate Attorney say?

The family is meeting with the attorney this afternoon. The sister wanted to reach a compromise before the meeting. I'm not sure how to compromise when two siblings want to sell the property as a whole or buy out shares of the sisters and the sisters want the property divided and titled individually. The property consists of two streets (an entire block) and is situated on a corner lot of prime property. If an investor didn't want to keep the duplexes, the entire corner property could be developed. Selling one or two duplexes will not keep the property in tact for this type of sale. The estate attorney just wants the family to tell him how to title the property so he can settle the estate. What a mess!

I would have each deeded property appraised by a certified appraiser, and then meet with the lawyer again. Meanwhile I would have 2 or 3 real estate agents tell you what the entire property is realistically worth as a whole for development vs individually.
The town assessments should give you some clue of each property's worth too.
All this seems to hinge on value rather than sentiment, so knowing what everything is worth either way should help this situation, and prevent those thousands being spent on legal wrangling. The siblings can sit down with all the various numbers and hopefully will be better able to come to an agreement.