Five owners, one house, and nobody deciding

We took over, some time ago, a villa at Andernos held by four siblings for seventeen years.

The roof had been leaking for three. Two wanted to repair, one wanted to sell, and the fourth had stopped answering emails after a disagreement about the weeks in August. The roofer's quotation was asleep in an inbox. Meanwhile, water was coming in.

This is not a story about bad faith. It is a story about absent governance.

I. What the law actually says

Three thresholds, set by the French civil code, govern indivision. Knowing them changes a great many family conversations.

Protective acts — those necessary to preserve the property — may be decided by a single co-owner, alone, without the others' agreement. Sheeting a leaking roof, repairing a burst pipe, preventing imminent damage: any co-owner may do it and claim reimbursement.

That is the least-known point, and the most useful. In the story above, any of the four could have had the roof sheeted without waiting for anyone.

Acts of administration — routine management, maintenance contracts, a management mandate, ordinary improvement works — require a two-thirds majority of the undivided shares. Not two-thirds of the people: of the shares. A co-owner holding 70% decides alone.

Acts of disposal — selling, mortgaging, granting a long lease — require unanimity. That is where deadlock is real, with no simple way round it.

II. The three tools that break the deadlock

The indivision agreement

A written document, signed by all, organising how the arrangement works for a fixed term — up to five years, renewable — or indefinitely. It can appoint a manager, define their powers, set how costs are shared, govern use of the property and provide for how someone leaves.

It is the most powerful and least used tool available. Drawn up by a notary, it turns a situation endured into an arrangement chosen.

The management mandate

Giving a third party responsibility for routine management — maintenance, coordination of trades, payment of charges, accounting back to the owners — has a benefit families underestimate: it depersonalises decisions.

When it is the eldest brother saying the terrace needs redoing, it is the eldest brother deciding. When it is a technical report establishing it, with three quotations and a deadline, the discussion is about the quotations, not about who gives orders.

We have seen that shift unlock situations entrenched for years. This is not amateur psychology: it is the whole principle of a trusted third party.

The annual use calendar

Half of all indivision conflicts do not originate in money. They originate in August.

A calendar set in advance — rotating periods over several years, with a written rule for the most contested weeks — removes the annual negotiation. Some families provide for an occupation payment where a co-owner uses the property beyond their share. The principle exists in the civil code, and it avoids the silent resentment that costs more than the payment.

III. Cost sharing, a source of dispute

The legal principle is simple: each co-owner contributes to preservation and administration costs in proportion to their share.

The difficulties come from elsewhere.

The co-owner who pays alone. Someone who settles the roof because nobody else moves holds a claim against the indivision. But they must keep the evidence, and they must have informed the others — failure to inform is the leading ground for challenge.

The co-owner who does not pay. They remain a debtor, and the debt is settled at the division. That does not solve immediate cash flow, but it does mean the arrears are never final.

Confusing maintenance with improvement. Repairing the roof is preservation. Adding a pool is an improvement, subject to a different regime and requiring broader agreement. Many disputes come from one party presenting as necessary what another sees as indulgent.

No accounts. Without a dedicated bank account and an annual statement, nobody knows who paid what. A joint account funded by quarterly calls, and an annual statement, extinguishes the subject.

IV. The calendar we suggest to a family

The following works, in our experience, for a house held by three to six people.

1. An initial technical survey by a third party, listing necessary, desirable and deferrable works with dates and orders of magnitude. It replaces opinions with facts.
2. A notarised indivision agreement, appointing a manager and setting rules on use and costs.
3. An annual budget voted at the start of the year, including a provision for major works.
4. A management mandate to a third party for execution, with accounts rendered.
5. A use calendar set over three years on rotation.
6. An annual meeting, on a fixed date, outside the holidays — because a decision taken in August in a full house is never a good decision.

V. And when leaving is unavoidable

No one can be compelled to remain in indivision: the principle is in the civil code, and any co-owner may force a division. Three routes exist.

Buying out shares between co-owners, with a valuation set by expert appraisal rather than by argument. This is the most common route and the least destructive.

A negotiated sale, requiring unanimity, or failing that a court authorisation in certain cases.

Judicial division, slow, expensive, and often ending in a sale below market value.

The best moment to organise an exit is while nobody wants one. A buy-out clause in the agreement, with a valuation method agreed in the cold, stops the question arising later under pressure and resentment.

Frequently asked questions

Who decides on works in a jointly owned house in France?

Protective acts needed to prevent damage may be decided by a single co-owner. Acts of administration, including routine maintenance and a management mandate, require a two-thirds majority of the undivided shares. A sale requires unanimity.

Can one co-owner have the roof repaired alone?

Yes, if it constitutes a protective act, that is one necessary to preserve the property. They may then claim reimbursement from the others in proportion to their shares. Informing the others in writing before committing the expense is strongly advisable.

What is an indivision agreement for?

It sets out in writing how the joint ownership operates: appointment of a manager, the extent of their powers, how costs are shared, rules on use, and how a co-owner exits. Drawn up before a notary, it turns a situation endured into a chosen framework.

How should the costs of a family house be shared between heirs?

In proportion to each person's share, under the civil code principle. In practice, a dedicated account funded by periodic calls and an annual statement of accounts avoids disputes and allows a provision for major works to be built up.

Can a co-owner be forced to sell?

Nobody can be compelled to remain in indivision: any co-owner may force a division, if necessary through the courts. The procedure is slow and frequently results in a sale below the price a negotiated sale would achieve, penalising everyone involved.