Affidavits of heirships

[Bil Casimir]

I have a house under contract. The home heirs went to the daughter and son. Title company says her sister is next to kin and her sister kids have to be notified and appear at the closing? The sister died 30 years ago, and we only have the siblings names not addresses. The person who has the house has a will that was never probated. Not sure how to handle this.

This was the actual Title Company response: 

You can do 2 things either.

1. Have 2 affidavits of heirships one for Ollie & Essie . Keep in mind that we will have to list all of the Heirs and since you have not spoken with neither of them? They all have to be here at closing.

2. You will have to go to court and have the original will probated.

Any suggestions? The case is located in Houston, Tx

[Rick H.]

I cannot speak for TX probate or title laws specifically, however I'll put this in different terms:

In the first scenario, title is putting the burden of assembling all parties who would legally take as heirs at law. These heirs interests are created by the law of consanguinity which dictate who inherits under an intestate (no will) estate.

Essentially, it's a chain of who is entitle to receive an inheritance, and their share, net of costs.

In the second scenario, a judge determines this. Judges can clean up a lot of problems that others cause. These messes are created by neglectful family members who failed to put their affairs in order. 

Even attorneys have been known to contribute to messy estates. I have one now where the decedent's estate was closed ten years ago and distributed the real property to many different heirs, subject to my loan. My loan is now due. The family would have been smart to work something out with me, such as a "friendly foreclosure" to clear title. 

In your second scenario, an attorney would present the facts to a judge who would order that certain deficiencies in title or chain of title be corrected to satisfy title company. This is not a quick process so be patient.