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Post by dolphina on Jun 21, 2011 23:01:29 GMT 1
I am desperatly trying to comprehend the legal system in Croatia concerning property ownership/entitlement.
My father and his 3 other siblings inherited the family house. Years ago, a cousin entitled himself to the property. After many years and several lawyers nothing was done except for the lawyers getting paid.
Now I found an english speaking lawyer and we have attempted to start court proceedings. A court summons from Zagreb was sent to the U.S. which promptly got lost for many months and was not received in time for the court date.
Out of the 4 siblings, only 2 are alive today, which means as I understand it from our lawyer, every single son and daughter from the original 4 inheritors must sign a declaration and a power of attorney. They must also have an OIB even if they are not a Croatian citizen to have the case heard in court.
Does this sound like the norm?
BTW, I spent a lot of time tracking down this court summons by calling the Croatian Consulate and Embassy in the U.S.A. and after their denial of ever receiving it, tracked it back down to the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb where it had languished on someone's desk for months and months.
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Post by 3lions on Jun 22, 2011 3:02:07 GMT 1
In my (all be it limited) experience it is the norm I'm afraid. It seems that it was the tradition to divide the land up between so many relatives. Guess you have to remember that before the 1950's emmigration wasn't the norm and everyone lived and died in the same village. Stick with it though even if it takes a long time, it doesn't make your case wrong.
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Post by crojoe on Jun 22, 2011 9:23:04 GMT 1
In my (all be it limited) experience it is the norm I'm afraid. It seems that it was the tradition to divide the land up between so many relatives. Guess you have to remember that before the 1950's emmigration wasn't the norm and everyone lived and died in the same village. Stick with it though even if it takes a long time, it doesn't make your case wrong. If those other parties are not interested in selling their part then your in for a long wait. They probally all figure they can 1.) have life long free accomidation 2.) extract money out of their other beloved relatives. This has been a problem with Croatian property for a long time. Too many people have a piece of the pie, and all it takes is for one bimbo not wanting to sell that eveything stops. So, good luck! |
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matov
Full Member
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Post by matov on Jun 22, 2011 17:15:16 GMT 1
Welcome to the nightmare that is the Croatian property market. Just watch out for the chancers who will try and claim a slice of any and everything once they suss out that somebody is willing to pay money to get things sorted.
Heard of horror stories where by soliciters on the make will advertise for distant relatives to come forward once they have sniffed somebody trying to sort things out.
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Post by splitpersonality on Jun 23, 2011 13:40:17 GMT 1
My own family is in the middle of such a dispute and I thus sadly know much more about this issue than I care to! "every single son and daughter from the original 4 inheritors..." This is ALMOST true. If some in that 2nd generation were for some reason passed over in the wills of their parents, then only a notarized statement to that end is needed. The same goes if they simply want nothing to do with the Croatian property. (I, the undersigned, being the son of this guy son of that guy, have no claim in the matter...) My advice to you is to try and reach an understanding with as many family members as you can about some future form of reimbursement - be it a free stay on the property, in another property owned by you, a cash payment, braces for their kids or whatever makes sense, in exchange for this waiver document. I'm assuming most of them are in the States and can be easily reached... and that they're reasonable people and that you're in good relations with them; by no means would these latter two be automatic assumptions for a Croatian family in this situation! It's also a good idea to have everybody litigating against the cousin name a single person as their "plenipotentiary" (=representative.) From my family's experience, this simplifies and accelerates things. Lastly, your Croatian lawyer can find out reasonably quickly if you have grounds for a lawsuit against the cousin. Being sued makes many people much more eager to reach an understanding! And many Croats, especially the older generations born and raised in Communism, have a terrible (and well-earned) fear of being sued and Taken Away. Good luck! You'll need it  |
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Post by dolphina on Jun 24, 2011 17:12:49 GMT 1
I should have said that the cousin that entitled himself to the property is not one of the inheritors. That is what we will have to prove in court.
In the meantime, we are trying to deal with the other inheritors. They mostly live in Croatia and they all want to be paid cash and big time cash for their share. They want what they believe is market value...which is unreasonably high.
My parents and I are the only ones that use the house. The house needs major repairs. It is on a beautiful Island and first row on the sea so they all see huge dollar signs. I'm so sick and tired of fighting and arguing with the whole lot of them.
All I want is to fix the house up so its livable year round, I truly love it there. We can't afford to buy everyone out and renovate. I will approach everyone this year with the offer we renovate and when my parents and I die, its reverted back to them.
But without legal ownership we can't do dick all until that is resolved. As much as I love Croatia, the house and the island...I'm really beginning to think that maybe Panama or somewhere in the Caribbean will be less of a headache than the mess thats going on and has been going on for years.
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Post by 3lions on Jun 24, 2011 21:41:38 GMT 1
splitpersonality has given some very good advice, and I think you just have to try to be really patient in these matters. I'm always thinking about 20 years ahead!!!!
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