"Estate of John Doe" - What are these and who controls them?

[Account Closed]

Hi All! 

I am combing through my local certified 2017 appraisal roll to build a targeted marketing list. Most property owners are listed as individual(s) or an entity of some sort (LLC, LP, etc). However, a few prime properties I have come across list the owners as "Estate of John Doe." I know this is an Estate but I am not very familiar with Estates and how they work. Does this mean this person died without Heirs? Who benefits from the Estate? Who do I need to reach out to if I wish to make an offer on the property?

[Jeanine P.]

@Account Closed, most of the time it means the person is deceased. I'm in California. It may not be in probate just yet. The tax assessor places "estate" next to the name of the person once they find out the individual has passed away. You could try mailing the address as to where the tax bills are going, probably the heirs. I specialize in probates and quite often the relatives have not paid anything and some heirs may not be local. I've found family members out of state who had no idea property was going to be sold for delinquent property taxes.