Philly investor here, intro and probate inquiry

[Holly Schuster]

Well hello everyone! I am a 32yo female from The suburbs of Philly and I’ve been lurking around BP for quite awhile now. I worked in the medical field for close to ten years before deciding to jump ship and dive head first into REI. This has always been my dream, and while we all have our stories as far as what motivates us to take the leap into REI, mine is somewhat bittersweet. I buried my fiancé three years ago, three weeks after my 29th birthday. Talk about a wake up call! From then on I started to see life differently. Time started to become more valuable than money. My passions started to come alive again, so.. I retired my scrubs and joined a REI company based out of philly. Holy hell, what a wild ride! So far I’ve done everything from buy/hold, flipping, wholesaling, and now sub-divide and developing! As most of you know, no deal is ever the same! Architects, lawyers, engineers, and high level investors are on the other end of my phone on a daily basis. I negotiate and work to clear titles like I was born for it.. With that said, I’m glad to “virtually” meet you all. The knowledge I’ve gained from BP has been immeasurable thus far and I look forward to connecting with anyone interested in a good conversation. Now that I’ve introduced myself, I feel good about throwing a question out there. Here it goes.. PROBATE. I have a seller who is the sole heir to a property who’s OOR includes his recently deceased mother, and a great grandmother. Typically I find the process of probating a will to be pretty straight forward but in this case, the older decedent has been deceased for MORE THAN 21 years. When that is the case, in Philadelphia, letters testamentary and letters of admin are unattainable. A lawyer must file a petition in orphans court first. My question is, what is the purpose of the petition and how will it effect the probate process moving forward? The decedent did not have a will which is also a key factor. Will letters be granted eventually? Are their extra steps involved to be sure nobody else is an heir to the property? I realize he can and will be able to obtain the info from his lawyer (not yet retained), however I think it’s important for me to understand the process from beginning to end. BP, please help! Sincerely, Holly