Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

Re: Transfer of Property

I agree with the other responders. You must check if the Will was probated in NJ. If so, who was designated as Executor and is that person still alive? If so, they have authority to sell the house. What you have paid to date and continue to pay until the house is sold, are reimbursable debts to be repaid from the sale proceeds. What about insurance, utilities, etc? I presume you have been paying this also. These are also debts to be repaid. Who, if anyone, is occupying the house? Has it been rented or merely vacant? If rented, there may be an accounting due the estate. If one or both of the deceased sons was executor, it may be necessary that one child from each side needs to be appointed Administrator of your grandfacther's estate, although all prospective heirs can designate one child to do this. Once someone is appointed to represent the estate in NJ, ancillary proceedings must be undertaken in MD for the same person(s) to be granted authority to act for the estate in MD, and proceed to sell the house and pay all debts, costs and fees, plus distribute the net proceeds of sale to the appropriate people entitled to them. This requires both an analysis of the orders of death of your grandfather, father and uncle, and the language of each of their Wills to determine who is entitled to share in the proceeds.

Re: Transfer of Property

Although your grandfather's will didn't specifically mention the Ocean City property, it in effect left it to his 2 sons. When they died becomes an important consideration. If either or both were living when your grandfather died, each living son would have inherited his half of the property. Then when he died, it would go to the heirs named in his will, or if he didn't leave a will, to his heirs as determined by the law of the state he was living in when he died. If either your father or your uncle died before your grandfather, then your grandfather's will should have spelled out who gets his estate (including this property) under those circumstances. If the will didn't contain language providing for this contingency, and 1 but not both sons survived him, then probably the surviving son gets the whole property. If both sons died before your grandfather, and his will didn't provide for this, then the 4 grandchildren would own equal shares of the property.

The money you have spent for taxes should be credited back to you, and hopefully you can work that out with whichever of your family members will own all or part of this property per the above analysis. Otherwise, you may have to take legal action. You also may need to reopen your grandfather's estate to deed the property over to its rightful owners and put an end to this mess.

Re: Transfer of Property

If something has already passed through your grandfather's estate under the language that you quoted relating to property which is not specifically identified, the real property in Ocean City, MD, would be treated in the same way. It is likely that the estate will have to be reopened in order to properly execute the deed, but that should be a simple matter. Additionally, at the time of the transfer (unless you are buying out another heir), you should be able to get the expenses you paid (including the taxes) back. If you are buying out another heir, your buy-out cost should be reduced to account for the taxes that you have paid.

Questions about re-opening the estate should be directed to an attorney who practices in the probate court where your grandfather's will was administered. Questions about the transfer of title will be governed by Maryland law and you would probably do well to hire a Maryland attorney to review all of the paperwork before settlement. This expense can be shared among all of the heirs.

Re: Transfer of Property

It is important that you obtain legal representation to protect any interest that you may have in the property and to ensure that these matters are properly resolved.

Based on your question I cannot be certain whether there was probate of your grandfather's affairs in Maryland. It may be possible that his last will and testament was probated only in New Jersey. In either event the title of the property needs to be reviewed as well as probate activities to identify what of these actions, if any, occurred.

The corrective action that you will need to take will be based upon the outcome of matters that occurred after your grandfather's death and these need to be discussed. His last will and testament will need to be reviewed. Since you have an interest in the property it is important that timely and appropriate actions are taken.

The real property in Maryland requires, at a minimum, re-titling and possibly Maryland probate. Of course this assumes that the prior attorney who contacted you in writing was correct as to the asserted ownership.

This property is not subject to New Jersey law. You need a Maryland attorney to assist you. My fees are reasonable. Contact me to discuss a fee agreement.

The property will be re-titled to one or more of the legal beneficiaries where not sold. Where sold, any net value from sale will be divided among the beneficiaries. You will need legal counsel to assist you with the type of re-titling for the property.

Your payments and other contributions toward maintenance of the property are recoverable in the process of resolving the titling.

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