Yet Another Real Estate Problem (Part 1)

I wrote a few months ago about a real estate sale that hit a snag when it was discovered that one of the record owners had died many years ago (as well as the sole heir to that owners estate and the sole heir to the sole heir’s estate).  With our help, the home was sold after several months of delays.  Unpaid taxes going back 12 years still need to be paid before the estate administration process can be completed and funds disbursed.  That case illustrates how a failure to administer an estate until many years later can cause lengthy delays and a more difficult and costly process.

Another estate sale of real property has come to our office which, likewise has hit a roadblock.  These issues tend to arise once a buyer is found and a title search is done for the purpose of issuing a title policy to the buyer to protect his/her interest.  Does each person offering the property for sale actually own it or are there other parties who may have an interest?

In this case, our client is the Executor of the estate of the Decedent who owned a 100% interest in his home – at least that’s what the most recent deed said. He executed a will leaving his estate to siblings and other non family members.  The problem is that the title company ran a search and concluded that he didn’t own 100% but rather he co-owned it with his brother.  If true this would mean that his brother’s share (he is also deceased) would pass to different heirs.

How to sort this all out?  We’ll get to that next week.