312.583.9430
One issue that we come across frequently is a deed that has been sitting in a deceased parent’s name for years, and finally a child is ready to sell the property, but doesn’t have the authority to sell because their name is not on the deed.
One way to go about selling the property is to go to probate court, have a judge appoint the child representative of the estate, and then the child can use their Letters of Office to sell the property to whomever they want.
But probate court costs thousands of dollars, and very often someone is in the undesirable position of wanting to sell the property because they no longer have the funds to maintain it, let alone the thousands it would cost to open a probate estate.
In these cases, there is a work-around, as long as all of the deceased parent’s heirs agree.
Affidavit of Heirship
The work-around is to work with an attorney to draw an “Affidavit of Heirship” up. Along with the Affidavit of Heirship, all of the heirs on the affidavit must sign the deed selling the property to a third party. This is why everyone must agree; without everyone’s signatures, a title company will refuse to sell the property without a probate estate.
If all the heirs do not agree, and you are forced to go to probate court, sometimes an investor will be willing to pay the probate expense for you. Say the investor was offering you $50,000 for the property, you could ask the investor to pay you $45,000 for the property, and pay your attorney’s $5,000 flat fee, up front, for the probate services.
Connect with an Experience Probate Attorney
We are highly experienced in these types of transactions and would be happy to discuss our fees with you. Get in touch with us here or call us today to schedule a free 15-minute consultation at Ph: (312) 583-9430.