Buying out sharer....

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L&M

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A good friend of mine bought a horse with another friend and paid 50/50. Sadly the relationship has broken down and the friend she bought the horse with now wants 'out'.

My friend has offered to buy her outright but since they have bought the horse it has developed corneal cysts. Whilst these are currently stable and have been assessed by a vet, there is no guarantee they may not cause an issue in the future. Also if they put the mare up for sale these would come up in a vetting and may well affect her value.

My question is does my friend buy out for the value the horse was bought for 2 yrs ago, or is she within her rights to offer less as a reflection of the eye issue and current market?

What do you guys think?
 
I think she should pay half the horses current value, if it had increased in value the friend would expect the current value.
 
If the horse was sold to another person outside of the partnership the money would be split 50/50 and if was for less than originally paid then so be it. You have had x amount of time out of that horse.
The best thing to do is agree how much the horse is worth now and split it.
 
But that is the problem - the sharer that wants 'out' is not prepared to consider current market value, and how do you prove it's value/loss of without actually putting it on the market?

Glad it is not me in this situation!
 
I had this situation. I bought with a friend, who wanted out after about 18 months, and expected half of what she paid. Meanwhile the recession had hit hard, and horses had almost stopped selling. We paid £2800 for him, I paid her a grand for my half, which she agreed to after doing a bit of research. Caused a bit of bad feeling initially, but we got over it.
 
Can the selling partner be persuaded to have a look at the market, & do some research on its value, & research on its cysts so she knows the impact. Or I suppose it could be worth ringing round dealers to get a price both with & without the cysts. A dealer will offer less than the private market, but at least there'd be some impartial % quotes as to how much the cysts reduce value.
 
Well put the horse on the market for the value the person who wants out of the partnership thinks its worth...if you get interest then you know that there is someone willing to pay that amount, at least that gives you an idea on how much the horse is worth.
Most people understand that unless you have a competition horse you lose money on a daily basis, paying for livery, feed, hay, bedding, shoes etc etc which is money you will never see again unless you sell for a vast sum which your horse isn't due to issues which have developed.
 
I agree with above, half of current value. The two of them will have to sit down and agree a value, if they can't perhaps they can agree on an 'expert' (local PC head, instructor etc.) who they could agree would be well placed to give a value?
 
I would think the first thing is to ask person who wants out, how much they want - since the horse is costing them time/money in the mean time it may not be an unreasonable amount.
 
While I agree with those who have said it should be half of the current value if the horse, I also feel that if the sharer who is selling is likely to be difficult about it, it may be easier to simply pay half of what the horse was bought for originally. It depends how much money we're talking about I suppose. I have seen a similar case end up in the small claims court, so if it were me I'd be inclined just to take the easy option :o
 
Yes - sadly the sharer who wants to sell is being 'difficult' about it, and is unlikely to take any 'expert' advice re current value. She wants to sell because the mare has become progressively more spooky and she has fallen off one time too many - weirdly she can't see the link with the eye issue.....!

My friend is reluctant to pay the full half as has to factor in the risk of buying a horse with an existing condition, that may or may not cause problems in the future.

I agree to an extent about advertising her at the original price and seeing if they get any interest, but would have to declare the cysts in the advert as wouldn't be fair to let an interested party pay for a vetting if they are undecided on selling.

I just hope they sort it out between them....
 
The only way to really see what the half share is worth at todays prices, is to let the sharer advertise their half share, and see what is offerred. Your friend can then make a counter offer, but at least would not feel that she was being forced into paying more than she wants.

Not a nice situation to be in at all, hope it can be resolved and the horse is OK.
 
If the other one is being awkward, then I don't really see your friend has an actual problem. As long as your friend is doing the moral thing of offering half the mares current value, then short of taking her to court there is little the other can physically do anyway.
 
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