4 co-owners selling a vacation property

[ryank]

My mom and three of her siblings each own an equal share of a cottage (25% each) that was inherited from a parent. Two of the individuals, both of which are executors of the estate which previously owned the cottage, would like to sell the cottage outright. Are they able to do this without the consent and agreement of the two other parties? Is there anything that they can legally do to sell the whole cottage or force every party to sell their portion?

Also, since the two parties mentioned above live a significant distance away and do not use the cottage very much we (my mom, her sister, my cousin, and myself) have done and paid for all the required maintenance the last 7 years. Is there a way we can legally charge them to pay for all the maintenance that we have done over the last 7 years if we can produce bills that show we paid for it?

Thanks.

 

[dee_dub]

Is there anything that they can legally do to sell the whole cottage or force every party to sell their portion?

Absolutely. They could apply to the court for an order for partition and sale. Depending on the laws in your jursidiction (the "Partition of Property Act" or similar), they may be able to force this through even against the wishes of the two that don't want to sell.

s there a way we can legally charge them to pay for all the maintenance that we have done over the last 7 years if we can produce bills that show we paid for it?

Absolutely. You can send them a bill for their share. If they don't pay, and they insist on selling, you can apply to have their share of the maintenance costs deducted from the sale proceeds.

 

[ryank]

Thanks, a lot!