Legal steps needed to force a sale.

[Chomping]

A friend inherited a house equally with her brother after the death of their mother 18 months ago.

The brother had been living with the mother for 5 years and still lives there.

They are refusing to engage in discussions around the sale of the house (they have no ability to be able to buy my friend out).

What needs to happen next? Can my friend instruct estate agents (they don’t have a key) - or do they need to initiate legal proceedings?

If so what are these, how long will they take and how much will it cost?

Did Mum leave a will?

No there was no will but I understand that probate was completed that it is now 50/50 ownership

Who took letters of administration for probate?

If her brother owns half the house, she will need to go to court to force a sale.

I don’t know how that works or what happened there.

OK - do you know roughly timelines, steps and costs involved?

@Chomping pp are correct however there is another option to try first and that is mediation. Mediation is much lower cost and your friend can point out to her brother the costs if she has to take legal action which may come out of his share.

The key thing in this type of situation is to keep pushing ahead with mediation and legal action.

The one thing that may help is identifying suitable properties the brother could afford with his 50% and through mediation help him work through letting go of his home.

Thank you @Propertylover - that’s helpful. Just looking at the directory for local mediation - would you know if this case fall under ‘family’ or ‘civil and commercial’ mediation?

I would go with family as this is about keeping the relationship whilst achieving a fair share of the estate.