I Think I Have an Heir Property Situation, What Do I Do?

Do you have a loved one who passed away many years ago and owned a property that is still in their name? Are you looking to handle it once and for all?  This situation is not uncommon.  We call it an heir property situation. Maybe you’re ready to have your piece of the property in your name, or maybe you just think it is time to sell it. Where do you start? How do you make sure this is taken care of the right way? We will answer those questions n this post.

My name is Erik Broel, and I am the founder and CEO of Georgia Probate Law Group. At our firm, we help families who have lost a loved one navigate the complex and confusing legal process so they can make sure the estate is handled properly and their loved one’s memory is honored. Everything discussed in this post is for general information and is not legal advice – for specific information about your situation, please go here to request a complimentary consultation with one of our inheritance lawyers.

Heir property situations arise when a loved one passed away many years ago, and their estate was never completely settled in probate court. Often, we find that the estate was never even opened.  If you are trying to handle an estate in which there are more than 10 heirs that are involved, you may be dealing with an heir property situation.

Heir property estate situations tend to be more complex than a standard estate situation. There are a few reasons for this. First, when there are more heirs involved, there are a lot of different personalities involved and the chances of a dispute in the estate is more likely than a situation with less heirs. Second, when opening an estate, it is often advisable to request all heirs sign off on paperwork appointing an Executor or Administrator. If the family hasn’t been close and there are estranged family members, then it can take more time and resources to track them down and contact them. Third, we often run into title issues with the real estate that must be sorted out depending on how far back the heir property situation was created.

Because heir property situations often involve many heirs, we recommend creating a family tree to help identify as many heirs as possible.  Once you have the family tree created, attempt to gather contact information from as many of the heirs as possible. The more people that are on the same page, the better because that lowers the chances of a dispute and delays in waiting on someone to take an action.

Every heir property situation is different. If you are in the process of settling a situation like this, we recommend that you call our office for help.

For more information about this and other probate topics, please go to GPLG.com/Handbook to download a complimentary copy of our Georgia. Probate Handbook. You’ll learn the key things that go wrong in an estate, how to prevent them, and what to do if they happen.

You also can reach out to our office at (770) 796-4582 to set up a consultation