Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: Inheritance of Property

I assume you are saying that the entire property is owned in undivided interests, and it's not actually carved out geographically. If there is, for example, a 10 foot square piece which you do not own any of, then you can't get title to that. However, if for example you own 95% and the others own 5%, there is something you can do.

You can either file a partition lawsuit or a suit to force sale, based on your payment of the property taxes. Either will cost you a few thousand dollars before you're through. You will need to hire an attorney to decide which lawsuit is better for your circumstances, prepare the petition, make one more effort to find these relatives, appoint an attorney ad litem to represent their interests if you can't find them, pay an appraiser to appraise the property, and in the end, if it all works out, you'll be able to buy their fraction from them. If they can't be found, that's OK - you will deposit their money in the court's registry in case they ever come along to collect it.

It sounds like you will be successful, it's just that it will take a few months, and a few thousand dollars to complete the process. This is not something you should attempt without an attorney.