My father recently died and my family and I are going to be going over his assests and I need to know about his land/deeds, etc... I would like to have some prior knowledge before we meet. Where do I need to go to find this information ?
In Alabama
2007-01-22 01:54:30 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Many tax assessors and county recorders place this information online now. You should do a web search for any counties in which you think your father may have had property and see if they have tax records online. If they do not, you have two choices. First, you can go to each county and search the property records yourself. Second, you can hire an abstract company which can probably get this information for you for a fee. Again, you will have to know which counties to search. If the information is not online, and you are not sure which counties the property could be in, it could be a difficult task.
Best of luck.
2007-01-22 02:00:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sorry about your loss.
Though you are new to the topic deeds and title to real property is not hard to understand. I am sure you will get the hang of it.
Deed - the document that shows who owns what specific piece of real property. Real property is normally land or something attached to the land. Personal property is the stuff that is not affixed.
The county records will contain a copy of the deed. There are ways to view some county records online. The specific deed normally is not that interesting to an owner. Just that they own the property. A title company's customer service office can normally provide a copy of the title report for no charge. Sometimes called a treo or preliminary title report.
It will have a copy of the plat map showing where the lot is. It will show the name that is on title. There will be a copy of the last recorded document (deed or mortgage) and if there are any liens on the property (mortgage or other liens like back taxes).
Most good RE agents can get you the same info. Most of the time they are looking at the county records or at the title company's copy of the county records.
If a lawyer is handling the probate or will (or trust) they can many times have the records pulled. They will likely contact someone at the county office, use an online service or call a title company.
As you can tell it all goes back to the county recorder's office records as that is how all property transfers are stored. These are public records so anyone can go down and look up your father's name and address to see what he owns. It is done that way to protect him and others. Little room to argue that there are others who have an interest if everyone who does has to record their interest at the recorder's office.
As your father has died he is no longer able to sign documents. To transfer real property the owner has to sign. When the owner is no longer alive there is a legal process to deal with the signature issue. That process is more or less 'probate'.
Note that if the property was owned by a trust the trust did not die. The trustee can transfer the property without probate. Hence the reason some folks say that having a will is not as good as having a trust as you can not avoid probate with a will. Probate implies publishing what was owed so that anyone who might have an interest knows to come forward. This is all slightly off topic but likely something that will come up later.
2007-01-22 05:41:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The County Assessor at the courthouse is the best start. They will pull up anything in his name which is free in most states. Take that info to the Recorder's office and view the actual document.
2007-01-22 02:07:41 · answer #3 · answered by dreamgirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The court house in the county the property is located.They will also have information if he has leased his minerals also.
2007-01-22 01:58:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
An estate lawyer
2007-01-22 01:58:41 · answer #5 · answered by CSUflyer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋