Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

No one here has the paperwork, but generally when someone transfers property to another, the transaction is final -- unless the paperwork says otherwise. Did the contracts with the brother say that it reverted back to the others if/when he died? We don't know. Otherwise, if he owned the property it is distributed in accordance with his will or pursuant to the laws of the state in which he lived.

If your mother and brother conveyed their share of the property to the middle brother, then he owned the property.

You indicate that the middle brother has now passed and that he has no children and no spouse. When did he pass? Was an estate ever probated for him? Does it still need to be done or is it unnecessary at this point? Did your middle brother have a will?

If your brother had a will, then the land will pass as per his will. If he had no will, then the land will pass as per the intestacy laws of the state where he resided at the time of his death.

The intestacy laws generally provide that a person's real property would pass to his parents if they are living and if not, then to his siblings (spouse and children are first, but they are not at issue here, so the next choice is parents, then siblings). So the land could be inherited by your mother and her younger brother.

Reverter is a separate legal doctrine. It may be that when your mother and younger brother conveyed away their rights they retained a reverter. If that occurred, then the land would indeed revert to them. Although this is uncommon, I would still see if there was any paperwork or the language in the deed itself which addressed this. A copy of the deed is on file at the register of deeds office in the county/state where the land is located.

The rule is that the heirs can inherit if there are no claims of any kind against the middle brother's estate. So assuming that probate is not needed and the land passed either via intestacy, reverter or will to your mother and brother, then they can convey the land to your brother. In such case, you should be able to talk with a real estate lawyer in the county/state where the land is located and it should not be too difficult. The attorney will need to see the current deed, any will or other paperwork and a death certificate for the middle brother (if there is no will).

If probate is needed, then your mither and her brother will have to decide which of them should be the personal representative and see a probate attorney. The estate will have to be probated first and once that is settled the land can then be conveyed by the personal representative of the estate to your brother.

While we do not have all the details from your post, I suspect from your post that somewhere along the way, someone skipped a probate or other needed documents.

If so, you may have what lawyers in Georgia commonly call "heir property" ( a way of saying, you may have a legal mess ). If all the heirs and potential heirs agree now, there may be ways to deal with this, whether it be via probate or quiet title or other means.

The best first step is to gather all the papers you do have and let a lawyer see them. There may be very little to do, or a great deal, but that's where you start. The answer will also depend on the state, so be sure the lawyer is where the property is.