family dispute

tominkerry

Hi Folks,
I have what seems like an intractable legal problem. In short I’m trying to discharge some burdens on a family farm which I’m the legal owner of for almost 25 years. My two brothers (who have their own lives and do not live on the farm) were to be given £3,000 and £2,000 as part of the transfer agreement in 1987, to be payable within nine years. For one reason or another these sums were never paid, they were given sites free of charge and they both accepted that they were in lieu of the monetary amounts (one even put it in writing) and were forgotten about.
Before Christmas a neighbour approached me to know would I sell them part of the farm (circa 20%) and after a lot of deliberation I accepted their offer. Through my solicitor he saw the burdens on the deeds and purchased the property subject to the burdens being removed within a short time frame. I honestly did not think there would be any problem.
However despite both of my siblings receiving euro equivalent cheques for the amounts above they have refused to sign their respective discharges. Without giving too much away, they are dragging up the past with regard to me and my ex wife and are making demands that are totally unwarranted and unreasonable. I offered to double the amounts owed but it has made no difference. One is essentially looking for a ‘pound of flesh’ and the other is just playing games and lying at every turn.
My original solicitor who I had a good relationship with was struck off by the Law Society late last year (nothing to do with me and it was a shock to find out through the press) so I had to find a new solicitor at short notice. He seems good but I find it hard to establish rapport and trust with him. While he’s progressed the sale to date, he now tells me that unless my siblings sign their discharges, there is nothing else he can do to close the deal. He won’t speak with them as he says they are not his clients and as you might deduce I’m not on talking terms with my siblings either and even if I was I’m not sure it would make any difference at this stage. On the other side the purchaser is now getting increasingly anxious.
My solicitor briefly mentioned getting a court order to have the discharges removed but said that we do not want to go down that route...
I’m between a rock and a hard place here – any advice would be greatly appreciated

source

When you say they were given sites free of charge worth €3000 and €2000, were contracts signed and did they get title deeds for the sites?

You also say that as part of the transfer of the farm into your name they were to be given the above amounts within 9 years. Was this court ordered? How did it come about?

The value of the land now is drastically larger than it was in 1987, Given that after the 9 years you gave them the pieces land instead of the amount that was due to them, do they not technically own these sites and would they not be entitled to the full value of the land now as opposed to the 1987 value?

tominkerry

foinse wrote: »

When you say they were given sites free of charge worth €3000 and €2000, were contracts signed and did they get title deeds for the sites?

You also say that as part of the transfer of the farm into your name they were to be given the above amounts within 9 years. Was this court ordered? How did it come about?

The value of the land now is drastically larger than it was in 1987, Given that after the 9 years you gave them the pieces land instead of the amount that was due to them, do they not technically own these sites and would they not be entitled to the full value of the land now as opposed to the 1987 value?

the land prices are irrevelant here, it is not about money per se rather the discharge of burdens (exact monetary amounts) that were court ordered but not acted upon by me nor challenged by the would be recipients, until now, when they have to be removed in order to give clean title to the purchasers. The question I posed is if the recipients do not sign even though they have been given the money, what options are open to me?

source

You're still in breach of a court order, the order was to pay them within 9 years, which you didn't do, instead you gave them land in lieu of the monies due. Which they accepted. I would be of the opinion that you can't just take it back off them and throw them cheques for the amount ordered 25 years ago and expect that to suffice.

I would imagine that if this went to court the judge would find for your brothers, as you were in breach of a court order and gave them land to the value of what you owed them. They now own that land and you can't have them removed, now that you have a better offer.

This is of course my opinion based on what you've written and a rudimentary knowledge of the law involved.

tominkerry

foinse wrote: »

You're still in breach of a court order, the order was to pay them within 9 years, which you didn't do, instead you gave them land in lieu of the monies due. Which they accepted. I would be of the opinion that you can't just take it back off them and throw them cheques for the amount ordered 25 years ago and expect that to suffice.

I would imagine that if this went to court the judge would find for your brothers, as you were in breach of a court order and gave them land to the value of what you owed them. They now own that land and you can't have them removed, now that you have a better offer.

This is of course my opinion based on what you've written and a rudimentary knowledge of the law involved.

foinse, i'm sorry if i'm confusing you but legally the 'in lieu' has no relevance. yes, i'm in breach of a court order but that can only be actioned when somebody takes an order against me. the reason it wasn't pursued up to now is that all parties were happy with what was given instead but NOT followed through into the deeds. The real issue here now is that external matters are being used against me that have no legal relevance to the discharge of the burdens

tominkerry

by the way i'm not taking any land back off them - they own this and it is outsude of the discussion