Hi, when my grandfather passed away, he left an acre of un-devided land to my cousin and I. The deed is in both of our names unfortunately with no division listed. The acre is worth about $24k now and I would really like to sell it, or at least sell my half. Unfortunately my cousin has no interest to sell it, nor by buy my half!

Question is, is there any way for me to force him to let me to sell my half? Sounds like even if I have it surveyed and divided (which I think he would have to agree to as well?), that we would have to draw up 2 new deeds, and sign off on each others deeds?

Since he definitely does not want to sell, is there anything I can do or am I screwed??? Thanks!

It could done, would need an Attorney to do so. Your cousin could be forced to sell or buy you out.

Since it is only a dinky one (1) acre, are you confident that what would be left for each of you would be a marketable piece of land that could be built upon?

Your little one acre may have been "grandfathered" while the two (2) Parcels that result from a 2000s Sub-Division may not be so exempt from your Current Zoning.

You need to get up close and personal with the Local Land Use or Zoning Regulations to carefully consider what is in the realm of possibility. You can start by researching this yourself BEFORE spending any money on Surveyors or Attorneys.


The Sum of the Parts isn't always greater than the Whole. Good Luck.

Thanks for the replies.......

Actually all the land around it (some 80 acres I believe) is owned by another family member, who said they would be happy to buy it, or at least my half, if I wanted to sell. So I'm pretty sure between them or my cousin buying my half I should be okay with selling it.

However, local surveyors have told me that, just by estimating where the land is, it might be in a water shed district and therefore cannot be split into less than one acre. So that throws another wrench into my problem!

So, I'm not real sure what to do. Not sure if I have any options at all, and if so if taking him to court over it would pay off after legal fees, since I'd only get about $12k for the land before legal costs???

So what do you you want? 12k or the hope of more?

How did you establish that value? If all acres are created equal, then your Relative's Acreage is worth close to 2 Million Smackers. Are they in agreement that your 1 acre is worth $24,000? (To them?) If they will pay it; GRAB THE MONEY AND RUN !

My opinion is that your one acre is worth more as a one acre (buildable?) lot owned as a separate and distinct parcel from the 80 acres. The fact is, with Sub-Division, the "Sum of the parts is usually worth far more than the Whole".

Perhaps someone else on this Forum will have another opinion and will express it . . . . they usually don't need any prodding to find a basis for disagreeing !

I am just shooting on the wind here but why couldn't you just sell your interest through a quit claim deed to the 80 acre relative for a great price??

You just want the money right??

If it's worth twelve sell your interest in it for 10k and quit claim to your relative and let them deal later on with your cousin.

I don't know maybe an attorney will have some creative ideas to use in this situation.Since you can't divide it and I can't see someone buying land around your relative the only thing I can see is selling your interst and the quit claim.

no legal advice

Really I'd like to get anything out of it I can. The tax assesment was where I pulled the $24k ($12k half) figure from. I just have zero use for it, and figured rather than sit on it anything would be better nothing even if I only get half that amount! :grin:

Just by tax value. I'm pretty sure it's just all woods, and either not buildable or not high demand if so. Would basically be the 80 acre relative helping me out, and gaining more acres to the land they own around it. Last time we spoke about it they were interested, and I'm fine with taking less than it's worth too. Biggest problem is this turd cousin with no interest in selling, and that I can't (or at least don't think) I can sell without some agreement out of him!

You have an position in the property, you can always sell your interst, like Super mentioned above. I'm dealing with a friend now who is in a similair situation with a property that has 6 owners, 2 refuse to sell. He wants off the deed only and no more liability. He cut a deal deal and quit claimed it to another relative and walked away.

So I'd quit claim it to the 80 acre relative, they'd pay me for it, and all this could be done without the cousin's permission or signatures etc? And then at that point they would have the same split deed with my cousin (ie same situation I was in?)

You need an attorney to review what type of deed you have with your cousin.

Yes generally people can sign a quit claim (there interest) to someone else for a fee.An attorney can help you more with this.