Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey
Missing Deed
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Category: Real Property, Real Estate and Landlord & Tenants
State: (NJ)
Subject: What happens if there is no deed to family property
Submited: #message-addedFmt#
11/18/2001
Body:
My grandmother lived in a house that was given to her in the 1930's by her aunt. the house was
built and given to her aunt in the 1800's. Her aunt died in the 40's. My mother moved in with my
grandmother about 7-8 yrs ago. My grandmother died last year at the age of 99, and now my mother
continues to live in the house. She is considering now selling it and moving in to a retirement
community. However, we can not find a deed for this property. From what my mother understands
there has never been one. I have gone to the township to search records. After a couple days and
many hours of searching through dusty dirt mite infested deed books still nothing could be found
either by myself or the clerks. The taxes come in my grandmother's aunts name and In c/o my
grandmothers name. My grandmother has paid taxes on the property throughout the time she lived
there, and my mother continues to do so to this day.
If there is indeed no deed. What can we do to get proper legal ownership of this property?
Message ID: 410345114
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1 Answer from Attorneys
Missing Deed
It's unlikely that there is no deed somewhere in the public records although people were not as sophisticated about these things in the 1800's and there may have been a deed that wasn't recorded in the public records and is now lost.
I suggest hiring a professional title searcher to make sure this Deed wasn't overlooked (under your facts, I could easily believe this could be the case). If there is no Deed in the public records, a legal action to establish ownership on the basis of what is known as adverse possession will be necessary. Assuming there were properly drafted and probated Wills this legal action may not be necessary as a Will can be a substitute for a Deed if it contains the appropriate language.
Good luck.
Dale Lundquist
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