All Forum Posts by: Dave Metsker

@Erick Martinez 

The decedent had ONLY 1/3 ownership of the assets listed, along with one or two other people, who may, or may not, be living.  You would have to buy out the other ownership interests to have full ownership rights.

@Sean Winfield @Mark Pedroza 

Personality is "personal" assets such as bank accounts; reality is "real" property, translated as house(s), which is what you want.

By paying the taxes, you become a "person of interest', and as Rick says, you can file a probate action, since you are over 18.  You can also clean up the property, to "prevent waste". and remove "noxious vegetation".  An aggressive attorney should be able to help you.

Many personal representatives are unsophisticated family members who do not want to deal with the probate, so they let the attorney make all the decisions, subject to ratification by the PR.  On the good side, some attorney contacts you make will be good for future business.  Their job is to do their best (in the attorney's mind) for the remaining family members.  A prompt sale of a house that needs a lot of work, may mean that your discounted offer is the best fit.  On the other hand, the attorney may believe that the best solution is to list the property with their favorite real estate broker, with whom they play golf.

I will often go back and read the obituary notice, to find out who the family members are.  I can often figure out who is the oldest child; I then skip trace him/her, and the other siblings, until I find a listed phone number, or a local address.

Read your local obituary lists, and compare the names with the tax assessor property ownership list.  Wait a few weeks for the probate to be opened, and then go to the probate office.  I use a done-for-you list from [email protected].  Very inexpensive.

@Brandon Snyder 

If you have the probate file, look for the personal representative (the owner is dead), who is listed in the file.  He/she is the one who will decide what to do with the property.

Correction, that is [email protected].  Sorry for the error.

You can read the local obituary column in your local paper, and compare the names to the property ownership records at the tax assessor's site, or the same work is done for you by [email protected], which is the service I use.  They are quite inexpensive.

@Mark S. 

The benefit of a revocable trust is to allow the property to pass to your designated heirs (which should be shown in your will) without the expense of time and money on a probate.

To be fully prepared, you need a will and a trust, for a smooth transition on your death.  You can not avoid probate on real property without a trust.  Your lender will not object to putting the property into a trust, and don't forget to notify your hazard (homeowners) insurance carrier.

I would also shop around for an attorney who will charge a flat fee, rather than the statutory fee.  The last time I did a $700,000 probate, I paid a flat attorney fee of $2,500, thus saving thousands of dollars.