Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
My parents, both deceased owned property in Arkansas. As executor of the estate I had the will filed in Arkansas as required. I have 3 siblings. The property deed has not been transferred to the siblings. It still is listed as being owned by my father. My oldest brother would like to purchase the property. What is the proper way to do this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
An executor's deed (drawn with the help of an Arkansas attorney) could convey the estate's interest in the property, and assuming you had a court appointment as executor, the estate can provide title insurance for your brother. In the alternative, each of the siblings, including yourself, could quit claim the deed to your brother, and your brother could get title insurance in lieu of probate. Please don't try to do this yourself, hire an Arkansas attorney to assist you.
Your question is not entirely clear, but the way it reads I assume your parents did not live in Arkansas, only owned property there. The proper way to have handled it would have been to probate the estate in the state where the survivor of the two had resided before his/her death and to open an ancillary case in Arkansas. The Arkansas property then would have been dealt with when the estate was administered and the main probate case would not have closed until the ancillary case was complete.
If they in fact lived in Arkansas, then everything should have been dealt with in Arkansas and I suggest you post this again as an Arkansas question or search the site for an attorney you can actually speak with to go over the details. Speaking with someone would be better since it is difficult to advise you without back and forth interaction to clear up the details. Posting the question likely will just lead to answers needing further details and that can go on forever without a conversation.
Even if they did not live in Arkansas, the present circumstances should be posed to an Arkansas attorney to determine if there is any way around reopening the estate(s), especially if some time has passed. In many jurisdictions, a title company will insure title if all the heirs/legatees agree. Unfortunately, in two separate estates I have handled in which the decedent owned property in Arkansas, everything had to go through an attorney abstracting the title. Title insurance was not an option, but that was several years ago.
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