Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

My grandfather left my father two houses,my father never changed the titles to his name after my my father passed away I started repairing the houses and trying to catch up on the property taxes I have two siblings who want to collect the rent every month but don"t want pay any taxes or bills much less

do any of the labor, needless to say i quit working on the houses and paying the taxes one of the

houses was just auctioned for back taxes the property sold for about four times the tax bill I was told the excess money will be held at the county clerks office. How do I go about getting this money

I really do not want to waste any more money on these properties. There were no wills left by my father or grandfather


Asked on 6/18/10, 10:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Step one: clear title from the grandfather to grandfather's heirs

Step two: clear title from grandchildren's deceased heirs (such as your father)

Step three: (if possible) have all heirs agree to the distribution of the funds (so you can get reimbursed for your expenditures.)

Step four: petition the court to disburse funds to all heirs or pursuant the agreement you struck in step three.

Steps one and two are dependent on when the people died. (Laws changed in 1993.) These steps will determine who gets what, by law. If you wish to change that, then all heirs would need to agree to an alternate distribution (step three) by signing a family settlement agreement.

Once the title issues are ironed out, you can either reclaim the property (if it's within the time period) or ask the court to distribute the money.

I've done this in the past, and would be happy to discuss this further.

Dave

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Answered on 6/19/10, 7:04 am


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