Outsmart the traps of the family home held in joint ownership

Hold a house in joint ownership with brothers and sisters is not as simple as it seems. Our tips to avoid your childhood memories do not turn into a nightmare.

the cabin in The trees, childhood memories, jam of blackberries cooked at the end of the summer : some places are more than houses campaign. Their story mixes for years, or even since several generations, the history of the family. If the children are very attached. The death of the parents, everyone agreed to keep it in the family this place full of memories. But this wishful thinking is not always easy to comply with. Because the detention of a well-to-many is not simple. Even in the family. Or even family.

In the case of a pre-existing conflicts, the joint is to flee

The legal regime that applies, the ownership, is rather restrictive. It requires a good agreement between the joint owners. In the contrary case, it is better to avoid keeping the house in joint ownership. The notary in charge of the estate is the privileged interlocutor of the children to find the best solution, given the history of the family. In the framework of a joint ownership, the rights and duties of each will depend on property rights. The share of each of the children in the co-ownership depends on the sharing done on the estate and therefore is not consistently egalitarian. Thus, if there are three children, each inherits one-third of the family home. But if the elder is assigned to other property of the deceased (a stock portfolio for example), it is possible that the family home does not belong to him only 20 %, his two brothers and sisters holding 40% each. In this example, the elder must pay 20 % of the costs of current management, such as electricity, maintenance work or land tax, while his brothers and sisters would pay 40% each.

To avoid running after the cheques each other, it is recommended to open a bank account in the name of the joint. Each of the joint owners the will power by automatic transfer of funds as a proportion of his property rights.

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In a joint, most of the decisions regarding the house must take a two-thirds majority. This is particularly the case of acts of directors on the current management and the commitment of small works. Attention, it is two-thirds of the rights and not the number of owners. However, each owner may, if necessary, make independent decisions within the framework of an act conservatory, that is to say, carried out in a purpose of safeguarding the property. For example, if the roof needs to be repaired urgently at the risk of seeing the house flooded in the next storm. The client may commit funds, undivided, or advance him-even the expense before being refunded.

An undivided owner may not sell his shares to his own way

Some decisions require unanimity of the owners. This is the case for the acts of disposition, in the legal sense of the term, such as the sale of the property. If all the brothers and sisters are in agreement, the house is sold and the amount to be apportioned between them according to their property rights. The situation becomes more complicated when everyone does not agree. Thus, if only one of the children wants out of the joint, the more simple is that his brothers and sisters to him buy back its shares. It is still necessary to agree on the price...

But it may happen also that none of the other joint owners does not wish to or cannot buy back the rights of anyone who wants to get out of the joint. It remains an exit door. In fact, "no one may be compelled to remain in undivided ownership and sharing can still be caused," says the article 815 of the civil Code. "The owner, who wishes to sell his share may bring proceedings leading to the judicial sale of the property," says Jérôme Barré, lawyer partner of the law firm Franklin. The process may take several years, during which the well is generally abandoned, no longer wishing to invest there given the inevitable outcome. Suffice to say that once at this point, the two brothers broke out.

The co-ownership agreement : tailor-made solutions

so it is Best to take, in advance, the necessary precautions to avoid seeing the beautiful family history is complete to the court. One of the solutions is to write a co-ownership agreement, a sort of modus vivendi of the house. "The joint ownership agreement, drawn up by a notary, allows in particular to define the rules of operation such as the occupation and appoint a manager that will have the signature on the bank account," explains Arlette Darmon, notary at Monassier & Associés.

You can also specify the fate of the units in the event of the death of one of the owners, the method for fixing the price in case of sale, etc .. One can go even further by appointing to the convention a real estate agent who will evaluate the property to determine the sale price and providing for a discount in the case of an assignment to the brothers and sisters. "The drafting of a convention to remind all the rules for the functioning of a joint, which tends to avoid conflict," confirms Jérôme Barré syndrome. A maximum period of five years, which may be tacitly renewed, the agreement of co-ownership of fixed-to-measure solutions for the family. Thus, we can anticipate that one of the children does not pay its share of the maintenance costs, but it will reimburse its brothers and sisters whene the house will be sold. Ideal if a child does not have the means to finance the current management, but nevertheless wants to take advantage of the family home in remaining owner.

Because holding a property to a number when all the world does not have the same financial means is not simple. The heirs have a professional situation comfortable may wish to do numerous maintenance work, or the construction of a swimming pool, while those with a budget more modest may prefer to limit expenditure to the minimum necessary.

rules for simple and precise, to prevent disputes

note, it is possible to sign a joint ownership agreement for an indefinite period. But this solution is not intended for children who want to retain the country house of their parents in the family. In effect, then it is possible to request the sharing of the property at any time, so that this share can only be requested at the end of the convention when it is fixed-term.

The drafting of a co-ownership agreement does not remove the risk of a disagreement, but it helps the family to find the right balance between the interests of each other, so that the house continues to serve common memories. Another advantage : the simple fact of writing down simple rules about, for example, the occupation of the property allows you to prevent disputes. A necessary precaution, even in the family.

Parents, anticipate !

You are worried that your children will be écharpent about the house of the family when you will no longer be there ? The solution exists : it is necessary to anticipate. For example, you can accommodate this within a real estate company in which you hold units. At your death, the children inherit the shares of the SCI and not the house in joint ownership.

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The status of SCI does certainly not all the problems related to the detention of a well-to-many, but it allows a more flexible management. Thus, it is possible to set the terms of sale of the property, by allowing a majority of two-thirds of the votes, or to organize the stewardship upstream. But if your children do not get along well, it is better to take the lead in organizing the transmission of the family house to some of your descendants, while compensating the other.