Owner of property deceased with no will

[John Lewis]

Maybe someone can clear this up for me a little bit.  I've been doing some searching but it's still a little hazy.  There is a property I'm interested in that has been abandoned for a few years now.  A childhood friend of mine grew up in the house so I recently asked him if they were interested in selling it but he said when his grandfather passed away there was no will so it couldn't be sold.  The property is in Louisiana and I believe that means all children would have a stake in it.  I searched the property on the parish's property locator and two names pop up.  I'm not sure if this is his grandfather's name or not but someone has been paying the property taxes.  The house isn't doing anyone any good sitting abandoned and I think they just don't know the process necessary to sell the property or don't have the funds for an attorney.  If anyone has experience with a situation like this I'd love to hear your advice.