Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

Re: House is in the name of deceased relative, no will

Title has to be cleared. Did your FIL die with or without a Will? I am presuming that there was no Will. Your MIL, presuming she was the only surviving child, and there were no other children, could now apply to the Surrogate for Letters of Administration. Once appointed, she could issue a new Deed putting the title into her name, which could clear the title for a present sale. If she had siblings and/or nieces and/or nephews who survived your FIL, they would have been entitled to share in the estate. However, based upon the number of years of residence and bill paying, entitling your MIL to be reimbursed, the potential claim of other heirs may be minimal. I suggest you get an estate attorney, like myself, to assist in getting this cleaned up and a new Deed recorded. Unless and until this is done, no title company will insure good title to a Buyer. This information is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, but is merely information provided in response to an Internet question.

Re: House is in the name of deceased relative, no will

They certainly have an interest that will be noticed by the law. They can't sell the property now because they do not have title to it.

How this plays out depends a lot on whether the decedent died with or without a will. If a will can't be found, then the next level of inquiry is who would have inherited the property by intestate (without a will) succession. From your description, I know that there is at least one living child. It will be important to know whether there are other heirs.

There are two approaches that can be taken to getting the property titled in the correct names so that it can be sold or otherwise dealt with. Both depend on having some additional information. If you would like me to try further to help your inlaws, give me a call or email and we can talk.

Re: House is in the name of deceased relative, no will

Technically, the house is owned by the Estate of your father-in-law's father. It appears, by your questions, that nothing official was ever done to tie up the affairs of his father. This needs to be done in order to clear title and ultimately sell the house. It would be best for your father-in-law to seek the advice of an attorney to accomplish what is necessary to resolve these issues.

Keep in mind that this advice is given based on the little bit of information that you have

provided in your question. My advice may change based on other information. Further, no one

can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. You cannot rely on this advice

because we have not personally met and you have not retained me as an attorney. If your father-in-law has not already done so, he should immediately meet with an attorney for a full consultation before he takes any further steps. He may feel free to call me to discuss this matter in more detail. If he does, tell him to mention Law Guru and his first one hour of time will be free. Good luck! Rob Gleaner