Locating an actual owner

[Jeremy Dial]

So I discovered a property while driving for dollars that appears to have potential. I ran the address on deal machine and found the owner's name. I confirmed this with the county tax office. The problem is that the owner died in early 2018. What should be the next step in identifying the current owner?

[Will Fraser]

HI @Jeremy Dial, welcome back to the BiggerPockets forums!  

The next step in this chain would be to find the executor of the estate.  There might be a more relevant term legally, but in essence you need to find the person who has a say over the deceased person's estate.  This can be a rather long process to determine legally, or quite simple.  

I've had good luck looking up their obituary posting and finding the decedents online.