Complicated potential free house in Texas

[Bryan Davis]

I am currently working with the widow of a deceased homeowner and the situation is a bit complicated. The homeowner and his first wife purchased the house but never had any children but the first wife had children from a previous marriage. The first wife died but the homeowner never took her off the deed. The second wife was married to the homeowner for 6 months and had no children before the homeowner died; she was never put on the deed but according to the widow she is the executor of the estate and has 60% ownership of the property. The property is now abandoned, the widow has moved out of state, and the property may have a year of back payments from a home equity loan the homeowner and his first wife took out in 2004. Now to my question. Does anyone know what I would need and from who to purchase this property? The widow is totally compliant with getting rid of the property and is happy to sign off on anything, likely for free. I'm trying to figure out if I need to track down the children of the first wife from her previous marriage and if so, what would I need from them. Furthermore, since Texas is a homestead state is that why the second wife/widow is the executor even though she was never put on the deed? Thanks for any info.