House Sale Stalled

[tmex]

My Mom is divorcing my Dad and both are elderly with my Dad terminal. My brother, who engineered this for greed, has manipulated my Mom to the point she will not talk to my sister and myself. We are trying to stickhandle through this for my Dad who is very sick. We are attempting to sell the contents and chattels but my brother refuses to communicate with us. We agreed to a real estate agent of my Mom's (brothers) choosing. We get a price that is in line with three other agents we interviewed before the divorce papers were server and all four agents are essentially saying the same price although my Mother has rejected it. We cant get them to tell us what they think the price should be. As well we have talked to auctioneers to sell the contents but again I can't get a response on how they want to proceed. My moms lawyer has indicated they want to sell the contents and the house but we have no communication or cooperation.

Now one would think as I mentioned greed on my brothers part he would want to settle this and take the cash. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and he seems to have some weird preconception that the lawyers will sort it all out and he is to sit back hence the non communication.

At this point I have sort of reached an impasse as to what to do besides to go to court. I have sent brother emails suggesting solutions, tried to engage him with questions with the real estate agent, suggested meetings to work towards a solution, etc. I am just wondering if I should be doing more so when we go to court we will seem the reasonable ones trying to come to a settlement and they will seem as skewering the process. It will go on forever if we don't somehow get control.

Anything else we should be doing to appear in a favorable light to get this to the table and settled.

[arabian]

If the matter is urgent, I'd send lawyers letter indicating that if sale cannot be resolved forthwith you would suggest having the office of the public guardian (or whatever the name is in your province) intervene on your father's behalf.

All in all I'd brace yourself for a very lengthy process, probably years. Just to get something through probate can take 14 months or more as there simply aren't many people who work at CRA in this area.

Maybe someone has to point out to your brother that even if both of your parents passed away he would likely be waiting for many years before he sees an inheritance, particularly as there is a divorce to factor in to things now.

I suspect that your father will pass away before the divorce is finalized. I don't understand the rational for divorce at this point. Your father has an up-to-date will does he not? Have you spoken to an Estate lawyer?

[tmex]

Yes, once the divorce papers were served my dad's updated his will. We had actually found out my brother had taken my mother to change her will a month before the papers were served. Their joint lawyer at the time suggested mediation but they decided not to go that way. We had spoken to an estate lawyer about this in the context of my mothers mental state. We felt she had issues that were to a point where the assisted living facility was not going to allow her to move in after her 30 day trial. But her doctor declared her cognitive which would be a big mountain for us to overcome in court.

At this point we will have to go to court and then things go to probate as my dad will pass before resolved. We are working to make sure we do everything in the courts eyes as being reasonable. I am asking from everyones experience what we should do in the courts eyes to help us force a sale of house and contents. The house sale issue has been going on for 6 months now and we are nowhere. 4 agents all indicated same price but they are not accepting that.

As I indicated my brother has some warped view of the process and when we try to explain to him the issue we are met with silence. But I think this will be tied up for years before we have any resolution from the sound of it.

[arabian]

Even if you get an order for the sale of the house the matter will likely take years to resolve. As I mentioned in my previous post, CRA is very, very slow. An uncontested estate can take a long time. Your estate lawyer would have told you the matter is lengthy.

This whole matter sounds like a feast for lawyers. This is why I strongly urge you to get some free advice regarding guardianship. A POA is different from legal guardianship. Does your brother have a POA or an "enduring power of attorney" - there is a big difference. The provincial government department will lay it out quite clearly the legal responsibilities required of a guardian. Often times assisted living/continuing care centres insist on guardianship matters prior to people moving in. You have a choice of going the expensive court route to find information or you can get free assistance from the government.

I assume you have legal guardianship for your father and are named his executor.

Your brother's silence may very well be indicative of the fact that he is not your mother's legal guardian a/o does not have an 'enduring power of attorney.'

Even if you get an order for sale of home and contents the proceeds would most likely sit in a lawyer's trust account

Is continuing care for either your mother or your father contingent upon the sale of the home/contents? If so then this might be deemed an 'urgent' matter and compel courts to approve sale of home.

[tmex]

Yes, my brother is my mothers POA and her executor of her changed will which we heard through backchannels. My sister and I are POA/executor of my Dad. As I said his silence from what we can figure out is he does not understand the process. Or as my sister and I are beginning to think is that they think my Dad's passing will help their position. The funny (sad) thing is all the examples of a house sale being stalled has been due to one spouse still living in the house. In this case neither my mother or father are living there and we are just paying the carrying costs on a vacant dwelling. So far my Dad has paid it all the carrying costs but we are about to start spousal payments and they will be less than they imagined due to the carrying costs.
I think it will be a feast for lawyers since I don't know what will end it.

[Links17]

Sounds Tragic

[arabian]

everyone jostling for "pickings" when, in the end, the divorce act will come into play. 50/50 split between husband/wife. If husband is deceased then his estate will be the beneficiary of proceeds of matrimonial assets. Regarding the "loan" to the son years earlier, I believe unless there is a letter from lenders to forgive the loan, it would be calculated as an asset owing to the estate.