Sister wants to sell our jointly owned property aboard but I don't ??

[iwanttoholdyourhand]

I need some advice. I jointly own a property abroad with my sister. We are both in our late 40s. She does not work and is on benefits.

She now wants to sell her share of said property and I don't . This property was gifted to us by our mother. It is currently rented out.

The country the property is located in the economy is really bad at the moment and it's already lost £10k of its value. The total value is now around only £50k. I want to wait it out and have plans to eventually semi retire in the country the property is in. I also have very fond memories of spending summers at this place. I really don't want to sell.

However, she wants out now and would like the money. I cannot afford to pay her in excess of £25k. I have suggested given her a small lump sum of £5k and then monthly payments of £500 per month over 3 years. She is angry and is not happy with this suggestion. She would like the money in one lump sum.

AIBU. I work full time and also have a young family. The money I give her will be tax free for her and also I don't think she will declare it to her benefits office.

I really don't want to upset her but think she's being a little unfair.

Sorry you are being very unreasonable. Either find the money to buy her out totally or sell and give her half.
Yes it might affect her benefits but that's her choice.

Yes I will look into buying her out and if I cannot will unfortunately sell up.
Family and money never ends well.

I cannot sell immediately at all due to the property being In another country there is a lot of red tape . The whole process will take many months it's not straight forward at all.

I will give her what's owed to her.

Buy her out - it’s the only way to avoid major issues.

Do you own a property in the U.K.? If so could you remortgage that to release the funds?

Yes I have a feeling we may end up falling out over this issue and I really don't want that at all.

Your sister is fundamentally dishonest.

Do not trust her to not cause you trouble.

You are aware of her fraud so be very careful of being dragged into her dishonesty.

Keep EVERYTHING above board and split all costs.

I think you would be wise to actually end all financial ties.

I suspect YOU are her retirement plan, you just don't know it.

All of this.

With an addition, is she in rented accomodation? If so she will not get anything for her rent on UC as she owns a property she is not living in.

£25 000 would be a nice chunk to get a part share of her home if it is council or HA.

If she owns a property then again she will get no help because of the property abroad.

Have a look at her actual situation, she might be in desperate need of a sale even if it is at a loss.

From your point of view, I'd be careful about paying her the £25k simply because it's too much - you should take the fees etc into account and give her the balance that's left.

From her point of view - it's been very easy for her to hide an asset that's abroad, how would the DWP have known if she didn't declare if. When £25k lands in her bank account they'll almost certainly pick that up, they work with the banks and this sort of transaction would be picked up (or that's how it worked when I did benefits claim processing and I'm sure it's got a lot more high tech these days). She's not been entitled to her income based benefits for 10 yrs based on what you're said. Once the transaction is unpicked that's a hefty overpayment in the making.

But it's not your responsibility it's hers, she's making her own choices as to her benefit claim.

Do change the locks once you've done the transaction.

Is the reason that you don't want to sell because you feel you have an emotional attachment to this property, or because you feel that it is a good investment and you would like to have holidays in this area? If the latter, I might be inclined to sell this property and use the sale proceeds, plus the money you would raise to buy her out to purchase another property in the area. This way, everything would be clear cut and your sister will be less likely to feel she still has a right to holiday there and can't later complain that you bought her half too cheaply.

Yes I would look to buy her out if you can, or sell the property and buy another smaller one if that is not possible with your half of the proceeds. Her financial planning is her responsibility.

Make sure you make very clear to your sister everything that you intend to do. Make sure she knows she's liable for half the fees and taxes and how much they'll be. Make sure she knows that you intend to declare your half if you sell and the repercussions for her are out of your control. If you're upfront and very clear you stand a better chance of not falling out. Though I'd prepare for the falling out being in her wanting access to property and even some money after she's sold her share.

It's very likely that tye DWP will find out that a large sum of money is paid into her ban account from the sale, either reported from the bank under money laundering regulations or from data matching that the DWP do routinely with bank accounts

You didn't need to mention your working and her not, unless you are trying to present yourself as morally superior in some way?
The problem is that half the property is legally hers, so the only fair thing is to sell it and perhaps buy yourself a smaller property there in time.

That's true that I have an emotional attachment to the property as used to holiday there when I was little, I have such happy memories there.

It's also a very good investment for the future.

I am also aware that she may also at some point think I bought her share too cheaply and feel resentment later on down the line when her money runs out. She has no real other assets at all.

She can’t make you sell. You don’t have to put it up for sale. She can try and sell her half if she wants. But that’s about it.
I completely agree with you, much better to continue to rent out just now.

is there a reason why she can’t get a job?

The only reason I mentioned that she doesn't work and reliant on benefits is to give some context to her current situation.

I do not see myself as any better than her at all. Her life choices are hers and nothing to do with me.

I don't want to create a rift between us. If I cannot raise the money I will probably just sell.

The reason she currently doesn't work is she is not medically fit to do so. Prior to that she just did not want to work as had young children.

She probably won’t transfer the proceeds to the UK.

Also, any property, in the UK or overseas mean she cannot apply for council accommodation.

You cannot possibly say that the sister cannot force a sale as we don’t know what country the house is in. It is entirely possible that she can legally force a sale.

Also, you can buy her out, but she will still see the property as family home.

You need clear boundaries.

Honestly if she’s that feckless with money and your retirement plans hinge on still having this property then I’d be jumping at her offer to sell her half now. How would you retire out to foreign country in five years when your sister still owns half the house? Were you planning on paying her half of the going rate for holiday lets to make up for the loss of that potential income?

Whatever she does with the money, however it effects her benefits, however she might react in a few years about it potentially rising in value (although if she’s that clueless how would she know?) or asking for freebie accomodation- those are mere hypothetical issues at this stage. You need to address the issue at hand that is cutting financial ties.

You mentioned possible retirement down the line, @iwanttoholdyourhand . Is the property in a country where, post-Brexit, you can still retire easily from the UK?

Yes the country is fine for me to be able to retire there. My parents were originally for this country before they came to live in the UK in the 60s.

If she still co owned it with me in a few years time my plan would have been to just pay her the lost rental income.

I know that there is a huge risk that she will be financially poor in her retirement as she has not planned at all for it. I also know that she may also want to come and stay with me too for free. I would not have the heart to say no to her.

Why are you mentioning her benefit situation then go on to say she wouldn’t declare it
that’s nothing to do with you and sounds mean
we don’t know her reason for being on benefits- there are plenty of valid ones
if she did get a lump sum the benefit office would find out so she’d have to declare it anyway but again nothing to do with you

if you don’t want to sell you will have to buy her out or get someone else to lend you the money Try to convince her to wait as she will be better off in the long run