Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Tennessee
Selling land with deceased owner
How do we go about selling land there in Tn. My mother in law has passed and my father in law is wanting to sell the land there. We are in the process of probating the will here in Texas. He would like to sell the land on a contract he has renters in it now and they have been there for 3 yrs and would like to buy it. What process do we have to do there to do a contract of sale on the property? My father in law cann't really afford to come there to handle this and we would like to know how to handle this from Texas and how to go about doing this.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Selling land with deceased owner
Is the land paid for? If it is, it sounds like you simply can sell the land by drafting a land contract and then the deed to pass title. But don't do this yourself. Providing there are no unforeseen problems, a lawyer can do it for you for under $400.00.
Re: Selling land with deceased owner
You will need an "Ancillary Probate" in Tennessee to obtain valid letters testamentary there. Contact an attorney in Tennessee - this is a relatively simple process and they will accept your Texas letters testamentary as grounds to issue Tennessee letters (although you will have to comply with Tennessee laws regarding inventories, etc. This will let the executor have the authority to sell property. Once you have that, you can probably handle the sale by mail.