Deceased owners no will

[Pedro Oliva]

How can I help these sellers? The parents owned the home which have since passed away. The parents left no will but the mother wanted the son to live in the home since he is mentally handicapped. The rest of the family want to get rid of the home since it is too much for the brother and want to get him in some sort of assisted living. They were advised to get a lawyer to get the deed in the brothers name in order to sell it, since it is still in the deceased parents name. This will cost them roughly $800 which I mentioned I could help in fronting them this money if I were to put the home under contract and just take it back in closing. I'm not really sure as to how to help them in getting the deed in the brother or any of the sisters name in order for them to be able to legally sell it. Any ideas as to what I should advise them to do? This is in Indiana.

[Steve Babiak]

When there is no will, then ALL heirs get a cut. To put the deed in the name of just one heir (without a will specifying that) is silly, and to put it in the name of one who might not have the mental capacity to legally carry out actions needed to transact the sale of a house is ... well, ludicrous. 

What should happen is that somebody has to open probate, somebody becomes the personal representative for the estate, the personal representative then gets letters testamentary that allow the personal representative to act on behalf of the estate, and then the personal representative conducts the sale and signs the deed (on behalf of the estate who is the grantee). Proceeds from the sale then get divided accordingly among all the heirs.