should I continue to pay taxes on land that I don't actually owned ?

Question

When my grandfather passed away He owned 25 acres of land . Since then his children have been paying the taxes , my father was one of the children but now my father has passed and I have been paying .The deed to the land remains in my grandfather's name.What should I do ?

There is no will, my father's siblings are elderly and dwindling , none of my cousins are interested and I am my dad's sole hier.Besides that this land is uninhabtited for several decades. Also, all must agree before this land can be sold . I want to conside future possibilities , such as my grandchidren or government redevelopment etc., what's fair and what to expect.

Answer 1

Get it changed or if you are the legal heir sell it if you don't want it. But get the deed in your name. Contact an attorney or you city clerk.

Answer 2

If you father left a will, his portion of the ownership is spelled out in that will.

IF he did NOT leave a will and you are the next of kin, then you are entitled to a portion of the ownership of the land.

Here is an example:

You father had one brother and one sister (grandparents had 3 total children). Therefore, your father owned 1/3 as a tenant in common with his other siblings. Then if your father passed away and you were his sole Next of Kin you would then own his portion .

Therefore, you should continue to pay your portion of the taxes on the property.

Regardless, this type of issue really needs some legal help. I recently worked on a case where in only 2 generations the property was now owned by approximately 16 different people who all have families and then their families would make the ownership grow potentially to 64. Hard to follow - you bet, that's why legal help is strongly suggested. I am NOT an attorney but can tell you that property ownership and therefore the use of the property can become really complicated upon the death of an owner.

Remember ownership carries with it the right of the use of the property, however, this property also includes some responsibilities such as taxes.

By the way, if you are sole paying for taxes, and continue for 5 years and no one else pays, you may be able to become the sole owner because the ownership then tranfers through the county as a "tax sale". For this you also need legal advise.

Best wishes!

Answer 3

The first thing you need to do is to determine is how the land was originally passed to your father and his siblings, i.e. how did your grandfather's will convey the property to his children?

If there was no will and the children received the land via intestate succession, the land would have been divided equally among the surviving children.

Unfortunately, form of title usually prevails in these types of cases. However, if you can prove that the land was divided equally among the surviving children, the default titling would typically be a tenants in common, meaning each sibling would have an equal interest in the property.

Further, payment of taxes also shows ownership. Even if the title wasn't transferred properly, if you can prove that each of the siblings made an equal contribution to the taxes, you might be able to prove to the courts that they intended to hold the property as equal owners.

If this is the case, you would have inherited your father's portion of the land.

I would ask your aunts/uncles what the deal is and if necessary, talk to a property attorney so that you can determine what your rights are in this situation.

Answer 4

Looks like the meat of this question is lost.
The fact that the deed was never changed as it should have been, does not mean that you (and others) don't own the land. Who now owns the land is determined by either the will, or whatever state laws re inheiritance are applicable.
The deed is inaccurate and does not reflect who the actual owners now are. Your job is to identify those persons (which seems to include you) and approach them on a friendly basis to get this settled. Try to come up with a polite way to acknowledge the fact that YOU have been paying the taxes (I assume you have proof), and maybe that should have an affect on your legal authority. If the others are not willing to work with you, it's time to see a lawyer on how to resolve this, in a way that is fair to all concerned.

Answer 5

There's a lot that needs to be confirmed here. 1. Did he in fact NOT leave a will? 2. If not, what evidence does your aunt have that he left the land to her? I believe that in the absence of a will, the spouse and then the children are automatically considered rightful heirs, not the deceased's sister. If you are indeed the rightful heir, I would guess your aunt owes YOU money for having effectively leased the land from you for all those years without paying you. In any case you will need a lawyer. Contact a trust and estate lawyer -- the first consultations are generally free and if you are clearly entitled to money or property, the lawyer may take the case on In exchange for a percentage of what you ultimately acquire in the course of the lawsuit.

Answer 6

If the land has not been divided between the heirs, and is still held in undivided commonality, you are technically still liable for your share of the land taxes, that is that sum divided by the number of heirs your grandad had, against divided between you and any brothers and sisters you may have. That is, if the land lies fallow, or is rented and the profits equally divided between the various heirs.

If one of the heirs has sole use or profit of the land, then you might want to check with a lawyer if, by state law, he is not sole debtor for the land tax.

At any rate, if you have no title, use or profit for that property, you might consider selling your share, either to another heir, or to a third party, and be rid of any strings attached to it.

Answer 7

If there's no will did it go through probate? Need more data to properly answer your question. But according to the book below, you should continue to pay your taxes otherwise it'll become state govt property. Additionally, since the original owner is deceased, technically it belongs to those that are his immediate descendants. If that's you, then you technically own that land despite the old name on the deed.

Please contact a real estate attorney for consultation.

Answer 8

Find out who is in charge of you grandfather's estate and get the title transferred to whoever should have inherited the land. If you are on the list, either sell your share or pay your taxes.

Answer 9

Call the Town Clerk's office.

Answer 10

you should find out if you can buy the land yourself. if not then i probably would not want to pay taxes for something i dont own.that is a waste of money