- Jurisdiction
- Virginia
My grandparents bought a house in 1940s - they had two kids, a boy (my father) and girl, my aunt. My aunt had one son, my cousin, and she died in 1997. My dad had three children, my brother, my sister, and I. My grandfather died in 1974. My grandmother and my father lived in the house until my grandmother died in 2008. At the time of her death, both her and my dads name was on the deed. The house was small, only 640 square feet - was dilapidated, and in desperate need of repair. But the yard was a half acre in the close-in DC suburbs of Northern Virginia. My sister is married and has children and lives two hours away - and my brother is married and has children but lives only about 5 minutes away. I was not married and had no children. I routinely spent most weekends at my grandmother and dads house - we were VERY close. After my grandmother died, my dad wanted me to move in with him - and in order for that to happen, we decided to tear down the old house and build a new one. My dad is on social security - I work full time and make pretty decent money. I took out a mortgage to build the new house. The deed we got was a Joint Tenancy with Survivorship. We didn't ASK for this deed - the settlement lawyers just automatically did it that way. For 5 years dad and I lived together - I paid the mortgage, I paid ALL the Real Estate taxes, I paid the home owners insurance, I paid to do all the landscaping and lawn care, I even had $200 of my pay check each pay day direct deposited into dads account to help supplement his small social security income. Dad and I lived comfortably until his death last year. He had no legal will. Now my siblings want me to sell the house and divide the proceeds EQUALLY. They do NOT want to include my cousin, who is one of the 4 original grandchildren of my grandparents.
I know that LEGALLY, I hold all the cards - since it was a Joint Tenancy with Survivorship deed, once dad died, I became the SOLE owner. But - I want to do the right thing by my siblings and cousin. I've told them that when I retire in 7 years, I plan to sell, and I'll split the money with them. But I want to split the money as follows: equally split the value of the land, and the value of the OLD house - but NOT the value of the NEW house, which I built.
My brother and sister do not agree - they want an EQUAL split on the ENTIRE property. Plus, they want me to subtract the equity I took out when I got the mortgage to pay off my debt so I could afford to PAY the mortgage, from my portion of the sale proceeds. My opinion is that if they were to get an EQUAL split, than they should have helped pay the taxes all these years, and they should have even helped pay other stuff. They have not ever paid a DIME.
I know my legal rights here, but I need opinions on what you guys think is fair - should my siblings get EQUAL splits even though they have paid nothing?? My lawyer sides with me, and my siblings lawyer sides with them. They want us to get a third, neutral lawyer to help decide what is fair. All my friends and co-workers, and even my extended family (aunts and uncles) agree with me, but my sister says everyone they talk to agrees with them. So I am very confused. My sister says I am destroying our relationship by my stance, and she feels I'm robbing her children of their inheritance.
Any opinions/advice??
I know that LEGALLY, I hold all the cards - since it was a Joint Tenancy with Survivorship deed, once dad died, I became the SOLE owner. But - I want to do the right thing by my siblings and cousin. I've told them that when I retire in 7 years, I plan to sell, and I'll split the money with them. But I want to split the money as follows: equally split the value of the land, and the value of the OLD house - but NOT the value of the NEW house, which I built.
My brother and sister do not agree - they want an EQUAL split on the ENTIRE property. Plus, they want me to subtract the equity I took out when I got the mortgage to pay off my debt so I could afford to PAY the mortgage, from my portion of the sale proceeds. My opinion is that if they were to get an EQUAL split, than they should have helped pay the taxes all these years, and they should have even helped pay other stuff. They have not ever paid a DIME.
I know my legal rights here, but I need opinions on what you guys think is fair - should my siblings get EQUAL splits even though they have paid nothing?? My lawyer sides with me, and my siblings lawyer sides with them. They want us to get a third, neutral lawyer to help decide what is fair. All my friends and co-workers, and even my extended family (aunts and uncles) agree with me, but my sister says everyone they talk to agrees with them. So I am very confused. My sister says I am destroying our relationship by my stance, and she feels I'm robbing her children of their inheritance.
Any opinions/advice??
