• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

  • About
  • Liz’s Books
  • Speaking
  • Disclosure
  • Contact

Q&A: How to divide up the family home

April 15, 2024 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: My wife and I plan to leave our house to our four children. My concern is that one may want to sell and split the proceeds; another may want to keep the house, rent it and divide up the income; and of course there’s always the real possibility that one may want to move in and live in it (we live in a nice community in California). My goal is to prevent doing anything that drives a wedge between them. Any advice on how best to approach this issue short of requiring the house be sold?

Answer: You’ve identified some of the complicating factors of leaving property to multiple heirs. There are many others, including changing circumstances and inclinations. The one who now wants to move into the property may be nicely settled elsewhere when the time comes. Or the one who’s keen on creating a rental may decide that screening tenants, collecting rent and fielding 3 a.m. calls about plumbing problems is too much hassle. Some of the heirs may be in a better position than others to absorb the ongoing costs of maintaining the home, including taxes, insurance and repairs. Even if their financial circumstances are roughly equal, they may have trouble agreeing on the timing and cost of repairs or improvements. And that’s assuming there are no reversals of fortune. Someone who is adamant about keeping the home may find themselves in need of funds later. And so on.

Your life isn’t immune to change either, by the way. You, or your widow, may want to downsize someday or need to sell the house to fund long-term care needs.

An experienced estate planning attorney can help you sort through your options because this is a common scenario and one that can be approached in different ways, including requiring the house to be sold, creating a trust or forming a family partnership to manage the property.

The attorney also can help you frame the discussion you’ll want to have with the kids. Knowing their current preferences and circumstances may be helpful, but given your goal, it’s also a good opportunity to emphasize the importance of family unity. Let your kids know you expect them to put family first and that harmonious relationships are worth more than any piece of real estate could be.

Related Posts

  • Q&A: Building an emergency fund beats out building credit

    Dear Liz: I am trying to raise my credit scores, which are very low. I…

  • The best ways to build credit now

    Once, building credit meant taking on debt — sometimes expensive debt like a car loan…

  • Q&A: Social Security family maximum

    Dear Liz: My husband is disabled from a stroke and is on Social Security disability.…

  • How you pay your bills may affect your credit

    Lenders are no longer just interested in whether you pay your bills or not. Increasingly,…

Filed Under: Credit Scoring, Q&A, Real Estate Tagged With: bequeathing a house, Estate Planning, estate planning attorney, heirs

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barbara says

    April 20, 2024 at 5:45 am

    Good morning

    Thank you thank you. The subject about leaving the house to family was EXACTLY what we have been pondering over and over. So much to consider!

    Thank you again special and smart person
    San Diego

    • Liz Weston says

      June 3, 2024 at 3:53 pm

      Glad you found it to be helpful!

Primary Sidebar

Search

Copyright © 2025 · Ask Liz Weston 2.0 On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in