Can I file a probate even though I am not related?

Question

Hi I am new at this, first off I didn't really know what category to put this in... Thanks in advanced to reading and your input, used or not, it is truly appreciated!

I have opened a discussion about certain details of this deal before but thinking about paths to go and wanted some advice.

Here's the deal: I find a property in tax sale, got sold in tax sale to lien holder, owner is dead, no heirs have shown up. I dig and dig around and find heirs, a brother and a minor. Rotting flesh is still there about a year after he died. Morgue came, took him after 2 weeks according to police report, no one claimed body. Only now is brother claiming house. The brother doesn't want to open up probate and doesn't tell me about the child (his nephew) , tries to sell it to me, but can't because it would have to go through probate. His attorney suggested that they might buy it from the Lien Holder. The property is not worth what the lien holder bid on it (about $200K) and would still need to go through probate because you can't serve a dead guy.

Now I am trying to contact minor's mom to give her the news that deadbeat dad (dna test, court order, child support) has a house that I want to buy. Found some old numbers and spoke to some family member using google translate and got hung up on in another language.  I found her address, I know where she lives, I know how much she owes on her property, I know how old her child is (15). I can't find her number.

Say that I go to her place, wait around until she comes by (not creepy at all :P) and then tell her, you know that guy that your sons dad? well he died and I want to pay for you for the house, legal fees and all. Or send her a letter a long the same lines. I have 2 options here: she will either say, "Yes! You don't sound crazy at all!" or say, "No" and get a court order for me to keep my distance.

Is there an option for me to file probate and then go talk to her? I can be the PR and deal with her and the brother at a better standing position. I understand that there might be debt and a chance I will get burned but getting turned down without the opportunity to try is bugging the sh!t out of me. Did I mention the property is already sold at tax sale? I only have like 3 months before they have the right to start foreclosure proceedings.

JR T. · Answer

@Christopher Phillips Just as a note in Maryland the tax sale certificate conveys no right of possession to the winning bidder. Also, the owners can redeem at any time up until the Circuit Court renders judgment foreclosing the right of redemption.

Just posting so nobody gets a tax sale certificate over the counter in Baltimore and tries to go change the locks. Could be a bad situation.

JR T. · Answer

I recently went through a very similar deal. In my case, the owner of the tax sale certificate had recently obtained judgment against the deceased owner but was unaware their defendant was dead.

I contacted the attorney for the owners of the tax certificate and purchased their certificate and an assignment of the lawsuit they had going. Once the tax sale certificate was reissued in our name we became the unopened estate's largest creditor and for that reason we were able to open the estate. We had the prior judgment vacated, substituted ourselves as Plaintiff, I hired a separate lawyer to open the estate, be the PR, etc. We served the lawsuit to foreclose redemption on the estate and 10 short months later received the deed to the property.

The people you're trying to make a deal with won't be able to transfer the property if they don't open the estate. You should research the high bid premium to see what they're expecting to get from the tax sale process. Many large tax lien buyers are in it for the interest rate play, the last thing they want is to actually get a piece of real estate. They're not going to take a haircut for you, but you can get it very close to what they paid, their legal fees and all accrued interest.

The high bid premium is a circuit breaker to make sure the tax sale process rewards investors and penalized tax scofflaws, but stops short of the taxpayer being robbed of their property. If you look at the tax sale results you may have to find your winning bidder, their bidder code and then in the results its expressed as BidderCode and BidFactor. Multiply the bid factor by the assessed value in SDAT and that's the high bid premium. You pay that to the county after foreclosing the right of redemption and in your case it will get paid into the estate and distributed to its heirs.

Ned Carey · Answer

@Jose Ortiz  Well buying the tax lien from the tax lien holder is not a practical option given the bid price. You cannot open an estate as you have no legal interest in the property or the estate.

Get someone with an interest in the estate to show willingness to sell at a price you can accept. Then and only then, worry about how to structure the deal legally.

Christopher Phillips · Answer

@Jose Ortiz

No, you can't.

if a person has a will, the will names who can handle the affairs of the estate. If they don't have a will, the state determines who can handle the estate, which will usually go to nearest relatives.

So, in either case, you have no standing to get involved.

If it was a tax sale, notice was already given before the sale. Right now, the lien holder that purchased the property has right of possession. Maryland has a period of redemption that allows the previous owners, heirs, or the estate to redeem the property tax lien by paying the redemption amount and related expenses from the sale.

After the expiration of the 6 month redemption period, the holder of the certificate from the sale can foreclose all rights of redemption. If that is granted by the courts, all rights of redemption are removed and the certificate holder can then get a clean title.

If the lien holder hasn't already filed to foreclose on the redemption rights, you would have to convince the heirs to redeem the house for the amount purchased plus expenses.

Can I file a probate even though I am not related?

Most Popular Reply