Father died intestate, 5 children inherit house, 4 want to sell, 1 doesn't?

[BuzzLiteYear]

What happens in this situation?
I've can the 4 overrule the 1?
The 1 has legitimate reasons for not wanting to sell as the property is on his farm and he wouldn't want strangers moving in.
What does the law say?

I think there are going to be options - the farmer is quite possibly capital rich but cash poor, but there would be ways eg as pp have suggested of for example selling the new build home, or borrowing aginst the house/land to redevelop one of the houses to provide an income while the farmer retians control - and releasing the cash - which may well be needed to pay inheritance tax. There are often presumptions in favour of 'diversitfication' of farm buildings so not just holiday lets but offices etc too.

I don't know how long you are given to pay IT but farmer can surely not be expecting other sibs to stump up a share of the tax without access to thier asset?

IANAL so check what I'm about to type ... but I thought that only a maximum of 4 people could own a property.

As long as the other three inherit under ingests you rules they can force a sale. That is unless the fourth one can buy them out.

What may be tricky is given location and proximity to the farm buildings owned by the fourth. No doubt he could make it very difficult to sell. Ie dump extremely smelly manure etc in close proximity to the house. Not much you could do as it is a working farm and proving a nuisance is difficult

You do need proper advice as inheritance on farms can be different to normal inheritance. (Working farms can be exempt from IT) In this scenario you definitely need advice.

Are there any death taxes to pay?
HMRC will force the sale if there are, so it could be a moot point in the end.

Could he move back into the original farmhouse and sell the new one to pay off his siblings, if that is further away from the farmyard and cowsheds etc ?

Also if he has bought or inherited the surrounding land, then the access may be his, even if there is a separate access. Does he need to access the same track to get to his yard /sheds/livestock ? Could be problematic to sell.

It depends whether it is England or Scotland to start with.As far as I know it has to be market value.It was with our family we bought one member out in Scotland as she lived abroad.

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-6511765/My-brother-odds-selling-1m-inherited-house.html

What about the actual farm itself, is that your fathers too?

If yes then the whole thing should be divided by 5, not just the house.

Wow tricky. Please let us know the outcome of this. It really is a conundrum.

Sounds like the farm was already passed into the probably eldest son's name who stayed home and worked the farm? He was given the land and built his own home there.

Father has now died intestate and all 5 have a claim to his assets i.e. the farmhouse.

A lot can be done for simple money, to enclose the house off from the farm (look at the deeds to ensure fences/borders/walls are legit. The house can be done up and sold or sold as a do-er upper.

You'd be surprised at the demand for isolated properties!

The farm is irrelevant as Son 1 already owns it. It's not part of the inheritance.

If Son 1 really doesn't want to give up the farmhouse, let him put his money where his mouth is - he already has the farm.

It would be up to a court to decide and if 1 can’t afford to cover the market price for the remaining 4/5th then I am guessing they will struggle even more after the high legal fees to fight it.

One of you needs to be appointed the administrator of the estate.

Point out to the one who wont sell that going to court might eat up the whole value of the estate.

Are you absolutely sure that the house isn't still part of the farm? I've seen a very similar situation to this, and it turned out that the parent didn't make a will because they knew that the child who had the farm actually owned the house.
When my PIL died, there was a huge fuss about selling our farmhouse or not, and who was to get it or move in or whatever. My husband had actually owned the farm (and thus the house on it) for over a decade. None of his siblings had realised this, they thought the parent owned the house.

Could the one brother move into the original farm house & sign his own property over to the 4 remaining siblings, obviously after having the two properties valued

Then sell the second house as not near farm buildings and getting rid of the risk of issues and priblems

SirVixofVixHall - sorry didn’t see your post

Bowerbird5 in England and Wales, the property can be sold at whatever price the beneficaries agree to accept. Doesn't have to be market value (speaking from experience). However there are potentia;issues relating to transactions at undervalue that a purchaser would need to be aware of.

Can I just ask, if a sale is forced in a case like this (simpler though as just two siblings and a flat), does each party pay their own legal fees, or does the 'losing' party, e.g. maybe the one who refused to sell initially, have to pay all costs?

Just to comment on a pp's post - it's not at all unlikely that the 1 (whose presumably is working the farm) bought the business from his father, including the land for his home: it's quite common to do it this way if the farm can't support all adult children or if some don't want to work it - it saves argy-bargy down the line. Except, in my experience, it never does, as the siblings never seem to find out until will time.

My gf made my father buy the farm business because he said otherwise his sister "would have it off him" and left my father nothing in his will.

Why are you asking on Mumsnet? You’re getting all sorts of different answers, how do you know which if any are reliable? Do it properly and see a solicitor.

Oh, and OP? If a sale is forced, my parents are looking to buy on or next to a working farmyard. Do feel free to PM me if it goes on the market!

Though if property is sold at less than maket value and inheritance tax applies, then I guess HMRC would deem it to be sold at market value for tax purposes?

Agree with MadameMeursault you need proper legal advice!

If a house is sold to divide the assets between beneficiaries then the cost of sale would be taken from the estate before the money is divided up. Same with any furniture sold at auction.