No Probate Case Found

[Mark Sewell]

Ok so an uber driver dug up a pretty nice lead for me - a vacant house in Houston.  

Should be a probate deal, as the owner passed in December 2017.  His wife passed several years prior to that.

However I see no probate documentation at all on the county clerk website - I do see everything for when his wife passed.

Interesting, almost exactly one year to the day before he passed, he submitted an affidavit to revoke his will. 

Trying to track down his kids - you would think by now, almost two years later, that there would be a probate case open.  But without a will, I am wondering now what this process will look like.  I guess the state will determine who will inherit the property.  I wonder, could there be a probate case opened in another state, if the kids live elsewhere?  Or would it have to happen here in Texas, as this is where the property/estate is located?

In Texas I believe the state will find some way to award the estate to a relative or somebody, even if nobody claims it.  The state won't keep the property, as I understand.

[Jerel Ehlert]

Probate is not mandatory, just highly recommended.  Skip trace heirs, submit offer, sign contract, open title.  Let underwriter tell you if affidavits of heirship or probate necessary.