Inheriting a flat with your siblings often ends in deadlock: one wants to sell, another wants to rent it out, a third won't even discuss it. We explain the three possible ways out, the deadlines and taxes you must not miss, and the most expensive mistakes.
Inheriting a flat should be good news. In practice, when there are several heirs — usually siblings — it often becomes a source of tension: one wants to sell now, another prefers to rent it out, a third is attached to the family home and won't even discuss it. Meanwhile, the flat keeps generating costs and losing value. Sound familiar? This article is for you.
First things first: until you act, the flat belongs to everyone (and to no one)
When several people inherit a property, a co-ownership community is created: each heir owns a percentage, but none of them can sell the whole flat on their own. Selling requires everyone's agreement — and that is where almost every deadlock begins.
What many people don't know is that the law does not force anyone to remain in that community forever: any heir has the right to request its division. In other words, one sibling's "I'm not selling" cannot block the situation indefinitely. The question is how you get to the way out, and there are three paths.
Way out 1: sell the flat and share the proceeds
This is the most common option and almost always the cleanest. The flat is sold at market price and each heir receives their proportional share. The key is starting from an objective, realistic valuation: many inheritance sales drag on forever because the asking price is set with the heart ("my parents' home is worth much more") rather than with market data.
Way out 2: one heir keeps the flat and compensates the others
If one of the siblings wants to keep the property, they can buy the others' shares. This operation — the dissolution of joint ownership — has an important advantage: it is usually cheaper tax-wise than a standard purchase, as it is taxed differently. It does require two things: that the one keeping the flat has the funds (or financing) to compensate the rest, and again, a neutral valuation everyone accepts as fair.
Way out 3: no agreement, and the matter ends up in court
If the deadlock is total, any heir can request a judicial division. The problem is that when a flat cannot physically be divided, the judge usually ends up ordering its sale at public auction — and auction prices are far below market. Add lawyers, court agents and, above all, years of proceedings and a broken family relationship. It is the way out where everyone loses, and yet it is more common than you'd think. It can almost always be avoided with good mediation and clear numbers on the table.
The deadlines and costs you must not let slip
Even before deciding what to do with the flat, there are obligations with a deadline. Inheritance tax must generally be settled within 6 months of the death (an extension can be requested, but only within the first 5 months). The municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía) must be settled within the same period. And when the flat is finally sold, each heir will pay income tax on the gain compared to the value declared in the inheritance — another reason to get good advice when declaring values from the start.
Meanwhile, the flat keeps generating property tax, community fees, insurance and utilities. An inherited flat left idle is not neutral: it costs money every month.
The most expensive mistakes
The first is letting time pass without accepting the inheritance or making decisions, hoping the conflict resolves itself: it doesn't, and the costs and taxes keep running. The second is renting the flat out "while we decide", without a written agreement between the heirs on sharing income and expenses — the perfect recipe for a double conflict. And the third, the most expensive of all, is putting the flat up for sale at an unrealistic price for lack of an objective valuation: the listing burns out on the portals, and the flat ends up selling months later for less than a correct price would have achieved from day one.
A neutral referee changes the game
In most deadlocked inheritances, what's missing is not willingness but an objective figure everyone can trust. A professional, independent valuation of the property turns an emotional argument into a conversation with numbers. From there, the three ways out can be compared rationally and each sibling can decide with real information.
At Signem we have spent years helping families in Manresa and the Bages sell inherited properties: we value the property for free and objectively, we explain the options — sale, compensation between siblings, or renting — with their numbers and tax implications, and if you decide to sell, we handle the whole process through to signing.
Have you inherited a flat and don't know where to start? Contact us and we'll help you unblock it — the valuation is free and without obligation.