How to sell an inherited flat when co-heirs don't agree or don't respond

When you can sell and what co-ownership means after inheritance

Until the inheritance proceedings are complete, you cannot be sure who owns the flat or in what proportion, so the sale must wait.

Once the proceedings are concluded, the heirs are registered as co-owners of the flat according to their shares. Each owns an ideal share of the entire flat, not a specific room. Therefore, decisions about selling the whole property must be made jointly. Routine management of the property (such as letting or minor repairs) is approved by a majority according to share size, but selling the entire flat is not considered routine management and requires the consent of all co-owners (co-ownership rules are set out in Czech Civil Code No. 89/2012).

General information about selling inherited property is covered on our page Selling an inherited property.

What you can do if other heirs refuse the sale

If others disagree, you have three basic options: agree on an alternative, sell just your own share, or request the court to dissolve the co-ownership.

1. Establish why they disagree. Often it is not a matter of principle, but concerns about price, emotional attachment, one heir's need to live in the flat, or worry about hasty action.
2. Suggest an alternative. One heir can buy out the others' shares and keep the flat. Or the flat can be sold later when circumstances improve.
3. Sell your own share. You can deal with your own share without the consent of others. The general right of first refusal (předkupní právo) for co-owners has been abolished. However, if your share arose from inheritance, there is a six-month right of first refusal from the creation of co-ownership (Czech Civil Code § 1124), so during this time you must first offer the share to the other co-owners.
4. Request the court to dissolve the co-ownership. See below.

Selling just a share has a drawback: the buyer will become a co-owner alongside the other heirs, so there are fewer interested buyers and terms are usually less favourable. We are happy to assess your specific options individually.

Court dissolution and settlement of co-ownership

If co-owners cannot agree, any of them can request the court to dissolve and settle the co-ownership.

The rules are set out in Czech Civil Code § 1140 onwards. The court considers how the property can be settled. A flat cannot usually be physically divided, so these options are typically available:

Court proceedings are time-consuming, costly, and the outcome is hard to predict. Moreover, an auction sale may not achieve market value; in enforcement proceedings, for example, the minimum opening bid is two-thirds of the final price (Czech Civil Procedure Code § 336e). Therefore, court action should only be considered when agreement is genuinely impossible. We recommend legal representation.

What to do if a co-heir doesn't respond or is unreachable

Silence from a co-heir is not consent, but it does not mean the matter is impossible; it is important to show you have made efforts to contact them.

• Contact them in multiple ways: by letter to their last known address, email, or through relatives. Keep records of sending the communication.
• Set a reasonable time limit for their reply and explain what decision is at stake.
• If the co-heir is abroad, consent and contracts can often be arranged remotely using officially certified signatures. See our case study of an inherited flat with three heirs for an example.
• If you cannot find their address or they cannot act, the court may make an order, such as appointing a guardian (opatrovník). This is a separate proceeding and you should consult a lawyer.

Until then, you cannot sell the entire flat without this co-heir, but you can proceed as described above, for example by selling your own share.

When and to whom are the sale proceeds paid

The proceeds are divided only after the sale and according to share size, not according to who did the most to bring about the sale.

When selling the entire flat, all co-owners must sign the purchase contract. Ownership passes to the buyer only upon registration with the Czech Land Registry (katastr nemovitostí); the land registry office cannot decide before twenty days have passed since notifying the owner (Czech Land Registry Act No. 256/2013), and registration typically takes around twenty-two days. In our process, the final payment is made within five days of registration from the lawyer's escrow account (advokátní úschova), and the contract specifies exactly how much each heir receives, so no one needs to handle cash. Cash payments are also limited to CZK 270,000 per day (Czech Act No. 254/2004).

Real estate acquisition tax has been abolished (Czech Act No. 386/2020). Whether and how the sale proceeds are taxed depends, for example, on a time test and whether you lived in the flat (Czech Income Tax Act No. 586/1992); each heir must assess this individually. Contact the Czech Tax Administration (Finanční správa) or a tax advisor.

What to do now

Start by gathering documents and sending one calm, written request to the other heirs.

1. Prepare the inheritance court decision or confirmation of acquiring the inheritance and a current extract from the Land Registry.
2. List the contact details of all heirs and note who agrees with the sale and who does not.
3. Send the others a written proposal with a deadline for their response.
4. Check whether the six-month right of first refusal period is running for your share (Czech Civil Code § 1124).
5. Consult a lawyer about whether negotiated agreement, selling your share, or court action is the best approach.

Details of our acquisition process are available in How our process works and further answers in frequently asked questions. You can obtain a non-binding written offer or situation assessment within 24 hours via the form below the article; the choice is then yours and the other heirs'.