Death Index

[Arcinio Arauz]

I'm the process of locating owners for abandoned property. After speaking to a few neighbors, it is assumed that the owners are deceased. I checked the taxes and sure enough no taxes have been paid in four years. I was wondering where is the best best to get a death index in California. I typed CA death index in a search engine only to come up with companies that want to charge a monthy subscription fee. I even tried a Social Security death index search...same thing.
Any ideas on how I can find out if owners are surely deceased.

[Account Closed]

The only CA death index I'm aware of is the one through 1997. It's useful because it often included people who aren't in the main SSDI:

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi

Access to one version of the SSDI:

http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ssdi/

Fewer and fewer properties in lower to middle income areas of CA are actually "free and clear". Medi-Cal, CA's Medicaid program, is often a deal breaker. While the Dept. Health Care Services doesn't usually have recorded liens, they have to be notified in all CA probate actions in my courts now (except the Affidavit for properties with small values). Medi-Cal debt is showing up all the time. I find that to be the main reason property estate property gets abandoned to tax sale in my markets. Lots of families do not probate the estate because 1) most attorneys require a cash retainer on the low valued estates, and 2) the relatives are aware of the debt. DHCS rarely comes after the estate (more so now, though), so as long as there are resources to maintain the house and pay property taxes, the property will stay in the decedent's name. When one of those resources runs out, that's when families "abandon" the property.

Tread carefully with any plans for adverse possession. It can be done, and I've done it, but it's fraught with risk.