VIC Executor of Will Preventing Me from Buying Father's Deceased Estate?

[CFDPRODUCTIONS]

Hi lawanswer.com.au,

My father has passed away and left a beach property. My sister is the executor pf will for the deceased estate and is doing everything she can to stop me from buying the property that she has stated she has no interest in.

The property has been valued by professional valuer for probate, 2 real estate agents, 2 banks and, of course, there is the council rates notice. In short the property is valued at around $1.25m. She offered to sell it and I offered to buy it (as my part of the estate as a beneficiary ).

She then did a back flip, declined my offer and said it was worth $1.4m - so I gave her 5 months to sell it - the best offer was "verbal" at $1.3m. I offered to match the net price of that offer and rounded it out to $1.28m. The estate solicitor now said I can have it for $1.38m net effectively valuing the property now at over $1.41m.

Over 2 years, I have agreed to the executors asking price twice... she then declines my offer and continues to up the price. Is it possible to appoint an administrator so rational, logical and meaningful discussions could resolve this matter?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Sophea]

Yes, definitely sounds like an unfair situation. Technically once an offer is accepted, an agreement has been made and any deviation from that is actionable. However if the offer and agreement were not in writing, it can be difficult to enforce. Contracts for the sale of real estate are required to be in writing, so verbal offers and acceptances probably won't stand up in court.

As executor, your sister has the discretion to decide how she will administer the estate however her decisions have to be made in the best interest of the estate and the beneficiaries. It gets complicated when the executor is also a beneficiary because in this situation it is essentially her interests against yours.

You can apply to the court for orders which direct your sister, as executor to administer the estate in a certain way -i.e. to sell the house to you for a fair price. How old are the property evaluations that you are relying on? If they are 6-12 or more months old, it's possible that values could have changed, so you will need to ensure that you have an up to date estimate to show the court.

 

[CFDPRODUCTIONS]

Yes, definitely sounds like an unfair situation. Technically once an offer is accepted, an agreement has been made and any deviation from that is actionable. However if the offer and agreement were not in writing, it can be difficult to enforce. Contracts for the sale of real estate are required to be in writing, so verbal offers and acceptances probably won't stand up in court.

As executor, your sister has the discretion to decide how she will administer the estate however her decisions have to be made in the best interest of the estate and the beneficiaries. It gets complicated when the executor is also a beneficiary because in this situation it is essentially her interests against yours.

You can apply to the court for orders which direct your sister, as executor to administer the estate in a certain way -i.e. to sell the house to you for a fair price. How old are the property evaluations that you are relying on? If they are 6-12 or more months old, it's possible that values could have changed, so you will need to ensure that you have an up to date estimate to show the court.

Hi Sophea,

Thank you very much for your assistance.

My father's Will is pretty simple - the property has been left to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries don't play well together so it was agreed to either buy or sell the property.

The property belonged to my grandfather who passed it to my father - it's been in the family for about 80 years. My sister wrote to me offering to sell the property at the sworn valuation. I accepted her offer in writing. I've always believed that the exchange we had constituted an agreement.

My second offer (in writing) was a better offer simply because it netted the beneficiary a better outcome because selling the property would involve paying some CGT. My father received some poor accounting advice in the 80's and put the property on both his and my late mother's name triggering the CGT event.


Not accepting that offer she has written she would like to put the property back on the market with a reserve of $1.31m - this would attract agents commission, advertising & legals. I have offered to meet that reserve (less those expenses) and offered $1.28 to which her response is, for me to purchase the property she wants $1.38 net (and yes, she does have a history of mental illness).

With the exception of the ridiculous offer of $1.4, she was given 5 months to prove her point. I believe I have met her expectations. Everyone I have ever spoken to says "stay out of court" but it is looking like that is my only option.

I'm frustrated because:

*I have accepted her offers,
*agreed to pay her reserve,
*proposed a better outcome than she could possibly achieve for the estate by selling the property
*and believe the "best interests of the estate" are not served by prolonging and protracting the process because of what appears to be an attitude of "I don't want it and you can't have it".

I would welcome your opinion. How do you think we could move the process forward? With a compelling body of facts could / would a court order her to sell to me if I have been reasonable?

Regards