Quote:
Originally Posted by Verjigorm
House is owned by a foundation, so she can't sell it. During the 1920s, one of the Locasta men set up a foundation to manage what remained of the family properties in the surrounding area. The Foundation is a "non-proft" and dumps it's earnings into a local church.
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I would say it's in a Trust such that only a Lacoste heir (has the last name) may inherit it or buy it from the Trust. No one is willing to let another inherit it without receiving their fair-share, so inheritance is out of the question now, with so many descendants of the name. But, no one can afford to buy the thing outright given the market price, and the Trust has dwindling funds, which has meant a lack of maintenance on the estate, which also adds to the burden of anyone of the family purchasing the estate. The market price, plus cost of repairs, keep it out of family hands, but once the Trust runs out, it can be sold to anyone.
That fits what I know of US/Louisiana law (not much really), and suits the situation requirements fairly well. However, like all sensible people living in Louisiana, I avoid New Orleans like the plague, so I can't point you to a specific estate to use. If it's in a Trust though, it doesn't matter if it is on St. Charles and worth $10 million, it can't be sold unless those conditions are met, and there could be so many heirs that, once divided, the amount of money each gets is relatively small.
I don't know how the New Orleans real estate market has fared, post-Katrina, but here, south of Lafayette, prices are barely down from their over-priced 2005 values post-Rita, when they jumped steeply (about +50%). I'd imagine it's worse there, given the gentrification of the city that's happened since - or so I've read and seen reported.