Jointly owned property

[abell080]

I own a property with my brother that was left to us by my mother, I have had no contact with my brother & have no idea if he is alive or dead. I have let the property for past 4 years since my mothers death & paid taxes on my share of profits. I have kept statements of every months income & expenditure & opened separate bank account which I pay in my brothers share of profit.

My question is I would like to sell the property but how can I without my brothers permission? I thought maybe a solicitor could hold his share of proceeds in an escrow account but how would I start the process or is it not possible without permission from brother. The Land Registry states we own as Joint Tenants, all I know is that he believes (wrongly) that his share of ownership was forfeited on my mothers death as he thought there was a charge on his part of the asset but this I have established was never implemented.

[PallasAthena]

You will find it very difficult to sell unless you can locate your brother and find out whether or not he is alive. There are companies that you can hire to track down missing people and in your position that's where I would start. I'd use a company that specialises on finding missing beneficiaries rather than those who hunt down debtors