Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arizona

Re: Community Property

First, I note that your brother lives in Arizona and the property is in Arizona, so Arizona law will apply. My answer is based on California law which may differ from Arizona law, so I will give you kind of a general answer.

First, California would regard your brother's second marriage as bigamous, and therefore null and void. You generally have to wait five years before remarrying when a prior spouse disappears, otherwise the second marriage is void and remains so despite the subsequent passage of time. I would consider this a big enough problem to take the matter to an Arizona attorney in person, and the sooner the better.

Next, your brother will probably need a court order to clear title to the house sufficiently so that he can sell it. Obtaining such a court order will require following local (Arizona) procedural rules very carefully. An attempt to serve the ex-spouse will certainly be required; this may involve newspaper legal notices, etc.; again, an Arizona lawyer will have to handle the legal action to clear title.

I think the marriage situation needs to be handled first. Bigamy is criminal and can cause problems for this happy family if not cleaned up before problems arise such as sale of real estate, refinancing, estate planning, etc.