Driving for Dollars/Probate

[Kenneth Pelczar]

Hey All!

So I was driving around the other day on the holiday weekend, and every now and then I'd come across a property that looked abandoned... I'm talking long grass, house desperately in need of a curb appeal upgrade... So having taken note of about 10 properties in various towns, I went home and began my research.  My issue is this: the overwhelming majority of these properties belonged to people who A.) Were not absentee, and B.) Are deceased.  Since direct mailing the owner (who's no longer with us) at the address (which looks to be abandoned) probably wouldn't yield results, does anyone have any advice on finding out who is the executor of theses various estates other than using the tax roll? After Google-searching the owners of record, one article even contained the sentence "such-and-such is survived by cousins and a few friends." Thoughts?