Owner of property deceased with no will

[John Lewis]

Maybe someone can clear this up for me a little bit.  I've been doing some searching but it's still a little hazy.  There is a property I'm interested in that has been abandoned for a few years now.  A childhood friend of mine grew up in the house so I recently asked him if they were interested in selling it but he said when his grandfather passed away there was no will so it couldn't be sold.  The property is in Louisiana and I believe that means all children would have a stake in it.  I searched the property on the parish's property locator and two names pop up.  I'm not sure if this is his grandfather's name or not but someone has been paying the property taxes.  The house isn't doing anyone any good sitting abandoned and I think they just don't know the process necessary to sell the property or don't have the funds for an attorney.  If anyone has experience with a situation like this I'd love to hear your advice.

[Robert Leonard]

This process and your effort should start with a purchase agreement.  Get that and then go to a title company/attorney and be prepared to spend about $2-3k for a succession.  Who pays for that is negotiable.  It can be paid by you, out of the proceeds of the sale or by you in addition to the amount you offer.  I normally consider it a closing cost that is not a normal closing cost and it comes out of the seller’s proceeds at the closing.

Liens against the property are only part of your concerns.  Judgements against any owner/heirs is another concern.  That’s why you just need to get it to a title company/attorney and let them answer those questions for you.  Be prepared that it might cost you $500-600 to find out that you have what will cost much more than the average numbers I stated above.  You may not be willing to risk or able to negotiate that higher cost with the seller.

The person you talk to and get a contract with, can’t close the deal without the succession being completed, but you need a contract to start the process.  Whoever you deal with, make sure all money changes hands through the title attorney.