| Forced buy out of family estate
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin. Our family has a lake home that has been in our family for over 40 years and has been passed down through the generations. My Uncle and my father were co-owners at the time of my fathers death. My fathers 1/2 went to his 4 daughters (my 3 sisters & I ) when he died. My Uncle owned the other half and paid for 1/2 of the expenses and the 4 daughters were to pay the other 1/2. We all took turns going there for vacations. etc. Here's the problem: One of my sisters has never paid anything to maintain the property, taxes. insurance etc nor has she ever gone there to work on the upkeep of the place. She is single, and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, several treatment stays and a few DUI issues. In the 14 years since we took over the 1/2 expenses and work there, she has chosen not to go there and not to pay. The rest of us have been paying my her share of the bills for 14 years. We did not ask her to pay expenses such as utilites etc for obvious reasons but did ask her to help with taxes and insurance which she did not do. She inherited over 100,000 when my uncle passed away (we all inherited a large sum similar to that) in addition to the property. Nevertheless, she refused to pay towards the place. We told her that she could take her name off the deed and not owe anymore for the place if she sold her share to us for a dollar. Now, for the 2 years following my uncles death and acquiring full ownwership between the 4 sisters. she still has not paid anything. She has spent her inheritance and lost her job due to cocaine and alcohol abuse and now needs money. She is saying she is going to FORCE the 3 of us to buy her out. She says she knows we can afford it because she knows we inherited money. The place is worth around 1/2 million. She has never paid a dime toward the upkeep and the rest of us have worked very hard to maintain it. Can she force us to give her $125,000 or force us to sell our family property? Personally, my husband is very ill and the money I have left from my inheritance is in the bank and we are using the interest to supplement out income. He is in his 60's and is disabled and has cancer as well. It would be an extreme financila hardship to pay my sister the money she wants. Thanks for any advice you can give. I would hate to lose our family cottage. It is a place we all love dearly. I would also resent giving my sister the money I have left from my inheritance after she sqaundered her own. | 
06-23-2008, 01:39 PM
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