How do I buy out my brother's share in property? Is there a specific legal form to use? Is a lawyer necessary?

There are very specific forms to use for this type of transfer. You mention that you want to buy your brother's share but you do not say whether he is willing to sell his share. If he is not, then you have a bigger problem. If he is willing to sell his share then you need to go to an attorney and have the proper paperwork done. Mistakes made now can be very hard, and sometimes impossible, to fix later. This is not a "do-it-yourself" type of project. Good luck.

I agree with Attorney Olson. This should be a simple and straightforward process, if your brother is in agreement. The Register of Deeds is going to need a quit claim deed or warranty deed. You will also probably want a purchase agreement and perhaps a bill of sale, as well. As Attorney Olson stated, this should be done by an attorney, in order to avoid problems down the road. James Frederick

Yes you can do it yourself. and many people do most of this themselfs.. but it can be a bit complicated... most people will do it correctly but the problem is that if you do it wrong you usually do not find out for years and its very hard to correct (but with you being brothers..it would make it easier and you would have a fighting chance to correct it) I reccomend an attorney but generally: 1) Your brother and his wife and you agree to an acceptable purchase price. 2) Thereafter when you pay .. they should issue a signed and properly notarized warranty deed (signed by both) for their half of the property to you and your wife (husbands and wives are assumed to be joint tenants with rights of survivorship in the absence of other language) . btw A quit claim is acceptable in most instances but if you are paying them for it..get a warranty of title and pay the transfer taxes.. 3) Filing the deed will require paying transfer taxes in the amount of $7.50 or so for every $500 of value transferred as a condition of recording the deed. The Seller (your brother) is legally required to pay those taxes that unless you agree in a purchase agreement. 4) Generally you also prorate property taxes..(e.g. right now your brother and you split the tax bill right? so you should prorate his share of the taxes) from the due date assuming the taxes are paid in advance south of saginaw or so.. and it is done differently north of saginaw.. If you cannot figure out how to draft the deed ..the prorations etc.. take your old deed to an attorney ...