How does my Father sell his summer home if one of the owner's listed on the deed is deceased?

Question

My Dad wants to sell his summer home, but his brother and him are both on the deed. Unfortunately his brother died about 10 years ago without a will. There is only one immediate family member left on the deceased brothers side (a son) and we cannot locate him. Should we hire someone to find the lost son so we can give him half of the summerhome?

Answer 1

You will need to look at the vesting deed for the property. Depending on the state the property is located in, there are generally two types of vesting.
1. The first is a joint tenancy. If one party passes, the other can produce a death cert. sign an affidavit, the process takes 5 minutes and its done.
2. The second is different, sometimes called tenants in common depending on your state. If this is the vesting, the property must go through probate and can be costly.

My best advise is to contact to title co explain the situation, and they can pull a copy of the deed and advise further. If you agree to use this title co for the closing, its possible they pull the title in advance as a courtesy.

Keep in mind, any liens the brother may have had will attached to the property. Its a good idea to have someone run title in advance so problems do not come up at the last minute.

If you can advise on what state you are located in and exactly what the deed vesting is, I am sure someone can advise further.

Answer 2

Your mother's name on the deed means nothing until your father dies. If Mom died with no will and no other property of value then there has been no probate and your father owns the entire property and is free to do with it what he wishes. California being a community property state means that unless he exempted the house before he remarried his new wife gets it automatically unless he writes a will stating that his children inherit the house jointly. Seeing that only one of you appears to be helping him pay off the mortgage then she should get the whole thing by my idea of fairness. You really need to consult a lawyer and if necessary start a probate suit to force Dad to tend to business matters in a business like way.

Answer 3

You may not have to find anyone. See a lawyer with the deed, it's possible that it was written in such a way that your father received your uncle's share automatically. If that's the case, you just need to file a death certificate on the land records.

Otherwise, the brother's estate has to be Probated, which will be a pain, but you've not much choice.

Answer 4

Hi
YOu have to file a petition with the Probate court in your area they will search for him and give him a time to respond if he does not then they will issue the property to the only family member listed, then they will give your father permission to sell,now they may hold some of the proceeds for another time period for the son in a trust to see if he will try to get it but that will give your father the right to sell.

Answer 5

lawyer up, there is a time of due process that you will have to wait before getting a court order to show that you took a significant effort to located the owner so you could sell the estate.

all laws are different, in each state, that's why you should contact a low rate property lawyer.

Answer 6

Before he can sell he must have the title cleared. If you are going through a bank then a "title company" will be hired if you are in the US. The title company has a lawyer who will attempt to clear it. Their job is to find all existing heirs. Had to do this down in Louisiana. It cost me about $1500 to have the title cleared. Good luck.