Problem with brother

LegacyUser

My mother passed away a couple of months ago after a long illness, my dad is dead 4 years. My dad was a pretty successful business man but a year before his death he sold the business and make quite a large sum of money. The family home is in a "sought after area" and even with the downturn in the market its probably worth about 2million. My dad had 2 other houses and an apartment which he rented out (less sought after areas, I dont want to name in case i offend people but I wouldnt think there was anything wrong with these areas)and after his death I looked after them. I never seen any money it all went straight into my mams bank account.

My brother lives in oz he went there when he finished college 6 years ago and apart from my wedding and dads funeral he hasnt bothered coming back in 6 years. This really hurt mam and dad as in all that time mam seen him twice for 2 2week periods and dad seen him once. He never really phone unless it was looking for money, he has probably called less than 10 times in 6 years.

At the reading of the will I was left the family home to raise my family in (2 young kids 3 and 1 years old) which i kinda expected as i did a lot of work on the house and spent a lot of time there after dad died. But I was also left the other 2 houses 90% of the cash. My brother got the apartment and 10% of the cash.

To say my brother was livid is lets say an understatment. To put figures on it inlcuding the houses and cash I got about 6.5million. My brother got about 500K. I am not going to spend that amount of cash though I'm sure my wife would give it a good try. I've spoken to my brother and said he can take the higher value rented house to sell or rent out but he's not interested. He says it should be a 50/50 split and intends to challenge the will.

From speaking with my own solictor he says this is unlikely to get him anything and as i have made overtures to give him a house and he has rejected it it will not be looked upon favourably. Also he doesnt have the money for a long protracted legal fight.

Basically how do i get him to cop on?

Any advice please

vorbis

your brother might have to learn this the hard way. A solicitor will probably fleece him of a lot of his money before he realizes that he won't be getting more. Does he not understand why people have wills??

Ultimately, the will was your parent's wishes and although a little harsh, reflects the differeing big difference in support given to them by their children. Your brother made his bed, he'll just have to lie in it.

LegacyUser

brotrouble wrote: »

But I was also left the other 2 houses 90% of the cash. My brother got the apartment and 10% of the cash......
From speaking with my own solictor he says this is unlikely to get him anything and as i have made overtures to give him a house and he has rejected it it will not be looked upon favourably. Also he doesnt have the money for a long protracted legal fight.

Basically how do i get him to cop on?

Well, you've got the legal side sorted; now for the difficult bit - the personal.

Faamilies do split apart after the death of their parents, becoming more involved in thier own families and this is a natural part of life. However, many families split up with great acrimony over issues like wills. Your brother didn't bother to visit or contact his parents; you stayed in Ireland, stayed in contact and helped out bigtime especially after your fathers death. The will was made by your parents to sort out the inheritance of THEIR possessions and they had a perfect right to do as they thought fit . The fact that your brother is upset is neither here nor there - it was their right. You're being big in offering him the other house and he's throwing the tantrum.

Stick to your guns. It's not your fault how your parents decided who should inherit. He needs to learn to deal with it. Having said that, he'll probably continue to take it out on you. And you need to deal with that.

Not much help. Sorry.

dudara

TBH, I don't think that there is a lot you can do, besides remain reasonable and open to your brother. He is going to have to learn this lesson the hard way.

A family member passed away recently, and a lot of relatives came home from England looking for their share of his estate. The auld lad had made a will though, leaving the money and estate where he pleased. There was sod all that the others could do, as the will was clear and concise.

Spud83

I would suggest doing nothing for the moment. You have sought the required legal advise and you seem to be in a very stong position here. If your brother finds a proper solictor he will probably be given the same advise as you, in reagards that he doesn't have much legal ground to stand on and he could be advised to reconsider what seems to be a very kind offer from you.

As for the personal side of things, as I'm guessing you would like to keep up some kind of realtionship to him. You have to try get him to see that you are only carrying out your parents wishes, and that they not only wanted to ensure your future they also wanted to ensure your family's future. You dont mention any family on your brothers side and to me from the outside this seems like the reason your parents decided to split the money "un-even".