[suzukigirl]

My grandfather died intestate in July of 2009 in the state of Virginia. The estate is in probate and my grandfather's son-in-law is administrating the estate. My aunt, my uncle and myself are the three heirs to the estate, being that my mom passed away 8 months prior to my grandfather.

There really is not enough in my grandfather's estate to bicker about, however my aunt has decided to complicate things. Back in July of 2009, the three of us (in the presence of the now administrator) agreed that my aunt and I would split 9.49 acres that include a home and that my uncle would get whatever cash/stocks/CD was remaining which is roughtly 25-27,000. There are two tracts of land, one with a tax assessed value of $62,000 which includes the home and the second tract with a tax assessed value of $35,000

My aunt would get the tract with the home, I would get the second tract and my uncle would get the remaining 25 to 27,000. The reasoning behind this is that my uncle lives in Colorado and does not wish to have any ties to land here in VA. My aunt and I live in VA and she is very fond of the home she grew up in. I have no desire in owning the home.

So my aunt is saying that she now wants everything split three ways due to her not being able to pay property taxes on the home and accompanying acreage. Splitting things 3 ways will continue to depleat cash assets once we have plots surveyed and what not. Do my uncle and I have any right to have our original verbal agreement inforced or should he and I just settle up after the estate is closed?

[JudyKayTee]

The law requires that the estate be divided into equal parts. Those dollar amounts have to be equal.

Does your aunt profit or lose from either option - as per oral agreement or by dividing the estate into equal parts?

Is there a way to buy her out?

[suzukigirl]

In terms of value she would come out smelling like a rose being that the tract of land with the house is valued at $62,000. I would come away with land valued at $35,000 and my uncle would end up with lets say $26,000 in checking, stocks and a CD.

If we divide things equally it seems as though she comes out with less because the house alone is valued at $40,000. The only downfall I see, is my aunt having to go through the process of selling the home if she wanted the cash asset from it.

Sadly neither my uncle nor myself are able to buy her out. Depending on how things play out though he and I have discussed me buying his share of land for my share of cash/stocks/CD

[AK lawyer]

Does your aunt profit or lose from either option - as per oral agreement or by dividing the estate into equal parts?

It breaks down like this:
Heir: aunt uncle OP

Home $62,000 $20,667
Other lot $35,000 -$6,333
Stocks $27,000 -$14,333
Total $124,000
Share $41,333

(Sorry, but my Excel document doesn't transport to this site properly formatted.)

Based upon the numbers OP gave us, the entire estate would be worth $124,000. Each person's rightful share would be 1/3 of that, or $41,333. Thus the original deal gives "Aunt" $20,667 more than she is rightfully entilted, and gives OP $6,333 more. Why "Uncle" ever agreed to this is puzzling, unless he just was trying to be a nice guy.

The problem with each person getting 1/3 of the real property is this: Ownership in common is impractical, especially in the case of absentee ownership. One person will end up getting more use and enjoyment of, for example, the house, and the other two owners will feel cheated. If I were "uncle" I would never agree to be an absentee in-common owner. Sooner-or-later, they, or their heirs will want to split the property up. Might as well do it now while it is in probate.

"Aunt" got the best part of the deal but feels she cannot afford it because of the taxes. If she was the sole heir to just the home, she would still have to find a way to pay the taxes. So what should probably be done is to sell the everything and give each one his or her share (as calculated above). Alternatively, "Aunt" might want to take the house and look into the posssilbility of getting a reverse mortgage.