Some time ago, I made a mistake — I inherited and accepted a 1/4 ideal share in a private house, in which I do not live, do not use anything there, and generally have a formal relationship to it.
My attempts to get rid of this unwanted share have not been successful so far: the owners of the other shares do not wish to buy it from me, nor even to accept it as a gift.
Instead, they regularly try to involve me as a formal co-owner in the financial expenses for maintaining this property. How can I legally get rid of this share if no one wants it, including me? Reader of the portal bb.lv"
Answers lawyer Valters Bergs:
– According to Article 1067 of the Civil Law, each co-owner has an ideal conditional share. Co-owners are obliged to participate in the expenses for the maintenance of the common property (Article 1068 of the Civil Law). Therefore, the requirement to cover expenses is legally justified in itself, even if one of the co-owners does not actually use the item (property).
At the same time, according to Article 1074 of the Civil Law, no co-owner can be forced to remain in common ownership unless the rules for its formation contradict this; on the contrary, each co-owner can demand a division at any time. Thus, if one of the co-owners wishes to relinquish their share by alienation (selling, gifting, etc.), they have the right to do so, provided there are no circumstances limiting this right.
If the co-owners cannot agree on how to divide the joint property themselves, this can be done by going to court. The court, according to Article 1075, depending on the properties of the item being divided and the circumstances of the case, may:
-
Effect a real division of the property (actual distribution of shares) among the co-owners, if technically possible, including establishing a servitude (passage, access, etc.) between the new parts.
-
Transfer the entire item (property) to one co-owner or several co-owners, obliging them to pay monetary compensation for the acquired shares to those from whom they were alienated.
-
If no one can or wants to buy the shares of the others, the court may decide to sell the object at auction (often through a bailiff) and distribute the money among the co-owners in proportion to their shares.