​Partition Sale

[Greg Tunes]

Can you get a court order to sale (partition) if you cannot locate the heirs of an estate?

Here is the situation.

The owners of the property are deceased. The husband passed in 2004 and the wife 2006. However, there was no probate (succession for Louisiana) done. Don't ask me why.

Fast forward, I have spoken with the husband's daughter and she wants to sell. However, she does not know where the heirs of the wife (her stepmother) are located.

She wants to get a probate/succession done for her father's interest in the property, but since she cannot locate the heirs she would be an owner and her deceased stepmother, but she doesn't want the house due to its condition.

So, I ask the Bigger Pockets community, if she gets probate done first, could she then have partition sale done on the property with the court placing the earnings for her stepmother in her estate or an trust account for the heirs?