Splitting land up

bob1577

Guys I need some advice from people in the know. My mom passed away a few years ago without making a will. Eventually after probate it got sorted. But now we have 1.5 acres with a cottage in middle of it. Some of us want to divide up the land into 3 parcels as there is 6 people. i dont think we can divide it up into 6 as it would be too small to develop. 2 of my sisters want to build a house on 1/3 acre and live in it when they move home to retire from USA.

My brother lives in the house so we will let him have this part with my other sister. Myself and my other brother want to use 1/3 acre to build some storage or commerial units.

My question is what are the legal parts needed, I have figured we might be restricted with septic tank, biocycle unit and actual land boundaries. but i think this can be sorted with some quality surveyor work I hope.

Any help or advice would be appreciated

wildwillow

I would investigate the possibility of getting planning for any or all of the proposed developments.

what you propose will make for a very complicated situation with two owners for each section.

Nothing like land in Ireland to cause families to fight.

AndrewJRenko

If probate is now sorted, who owns the land that you're planning on splitting up now?

Peregrinus

Presumably the six siblings are joint owners of the land in equal shares.

By agreement between all six siblings (no majority votes here!) they can partition the land into 3 (or any other number of) smaller lots, each owned by different siblings. They'll need a lawyer actually to register the transaction. The trick will be getting agreement not only on the principle of partition, but on the boundaries of the 3 lots.

Ideally the land would be partitioned in a way that each of the 3 lots has the same value, so that nobody gains or loses by the exercise. That may not be practical, in which case fairness and equity can be preserved by people who end up with more valuable lots making balancing payments to the people who end up with less valuable lots.

The main constraint will be identify 3 feasible lots that are consistent with the use/development that the various siblings want to undertake. The lots must be designed in such a way that the desired development is practically feasible, will be compliant with relevant planning and building regulations and will get planning permission.

I think professional help will be needed to devise a fair and feasible scheme of partition. Engage a planning consultant to talk to all the siblings, find out what each of their wishes and objectives is, and then devise a scheme for partitioning and developing the land that achieves as much as possible of everyone's goals, and is likely to secure regulatory and planning approval.

bob1577

thanks everyone for the help and advise, yes land & house is split 6 ways equally at present. But we are giving the house to my brother who will live there with my older sister once she returns from UK. So that part we have sorted. The rest of land will be divided between me and another brother to develop, and the Third piece of land will be for my 2 older sisters who are divorced and want to build a 2 unit house for them both to live in separately with 2 bedrooms and open plan living dinning area. small units like granny flats but tied together to reduce foot print and have just 1 biocycle unit.

( we may even get a 2 log cabins built that part is finance depentant but is 3-5 years off ).

For now I just want to divide things legally and we will all do our own thing then. I will look to contact a planning authority or engineer to figure out how much exactly is needed to gain planning for a house or storage unit development.