my two sisters and i have inherited a family business from our father
who died almost three years ago.  the business and the land on which
it sits are the final assets of the estate  to be distributed by the
probate attorney in connecticut. they are held by the three of us as
equal shareholders in an LLC. i would like to keep the business and
the land but my sisters want to sell them and take the money. they
claim that i dont have a say in the matter because, while the property
remains in probate, it is majority rule. they intend to soon sell an 
option to purchase with an eight month term for a total purchase price
that they find attracrtive. ( they already had the probate attorney
sell the historic family home against my wishes and without any
signature needed from me.)
i understand that once the real estate is distributed out of probate,
then we become co-owners but that the process of forcing a sale
against my desires is much more involved and maybe not automatic.
so... my question is:  what can i do, if anything, to thwart the sale
of the property while it is still in probate. can an option to
purchase  be  accepted by the estate right before the final
distribution of the property  against my wishes and interest?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 05 Oct 2006 07:41 PDT

sclemens-ga,

It doesn't seem that it would be all that difficult to obstruct a
sale, if that is your intent, either through the probate process
itself, or externally, by filing a lien on the business, or some such.

Have you consulted with a lawyer on this?  If not, why not?


pafalafa-ga

Sadly, you are in a minority and I can well understand why your
sisters want to liquidate the entire estate.

What you could do, is to make an offer for the business.

Obviously, you would have to finance your sisters' share.

But, if it's that good, why not?

You go and buy them out and then later show them how they missed out!

Good Luck!

Bryan

I would agree with Bryan's comment. You don't want to run a business
with two hostile co-owners... that would cause you more problems than
this has. And, you would presumably be doing all the work and only
getting 1/3 of the profits. Buy them out.