handling property issues part 1

Dear All,

Please bear with me for my long post and I am going to post it in two parts:

My ILs are financially very sound, both getting pensions and additional monthly money from farms and couple of plots. We are in US (7 yrs now) and IL and BIL (DH’s brother) live in India, separated 4 yrs ago. The reason of separation was daily fights between my SIL (BIL’s wife) and MIL. Both have stubborn heads, but MIL’s everyday drama got her what she deserved. Now no one is there to serve the Queen. BIL has his own issues with his poor mental abilities. SIL is very manipulative and got him to get separate house. Now the old house sold, money divided into 3 shares, DH, BIL and IL. Now with our share, new house was built in our name and ILs living there, no problem with that.

Now our property/money share in India is still with ILs. My ILs came to visit us in US and I got my husband to talk to them over this financial matter that they should sell our share of farms/plots except the house.

Problem 1. DH doesn’t visit india very frequently, the farms are still in FIL’s name and are being used by FIL’s brother (big trouble) and FIL is very attached to him and does not want to talk to him yet. Now FIL is in his late 70s, lot of health issues, god forbid if sthg happens to him, those farms are gone forever, why? His brother is very clever minded and will all use all ways to not release the farms and won’t let it sold to anyone. That’s what he did to another brother’s farms. FILs are 4 brothers and 3 are in job except this 4th one who uses the joint farms for his income. Very tricky situation, my FIL support this brother and does not see that this could happen to his own share. Now us being in US and BIL does not know anything about courts and property issues, I see it that we won’t get anything from those farms. My MIL agrees with us in this.

How can we convince FIL to ask his brother that he wants to sell his share? I guess FIL does realize it but is still reluctant in talking to his brother.