Heirship Affidavit and Selling a House

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

Hi-

I and my wife are selling our house FSBO. We have gotton a contract, have earnest money, and just visited the attorney that will close the contract. The lawyer we asked was reccomended to us by a real estate agent that sold a house in our neighborhood.

Today in our meeting with the attorney, we were asked by him to get two "heirship affidavit"'s from neighbors who knew the previous owners. He says the reason is because the "warranty deed" that WE got when we bought the house says one of the owners who died did not have a will. The warranty deed for US when we BOUGHT the house says that the husband and 3 daughers owned the house. He wants the "heirship affidavit" from neighbors who can testify that she only had 3 daughters.

After I've thought about this, I am wondering how this benefits us as SELLERS of the property. I am asking because there is some evidence that the lawyer knows the buyer (the evidence is that when we told the buyer who the closing attorney was, he said "Oh, I know Robert."), and when I asked the laywer, twice, if he knew the buyer, he never said yes or no. He basically said he can't remember everyone who he has been involved with.

Why are we, as sellers, being asked to fill out an Heirship Affidavit if we have no interest in the house after close? Does it make sense for an attorney to ask us, the sellers, to do this? Is it possible that the attorney has some relationship with the buyer and is trying to help him?

Other fact:We have paid for the house. We own it.

Thanks.

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by kmart13
What is the name of your state? Mississippi

Hi-

I and my wife are selling our house FSBO. We have gotton a contract, have earnest money, and just visited the attorney that will close the contract. The lawyer we asked was reccomended to us by a real estate agent that sold a house in our neighborhood.

Today in our meeting with the attorney, we were asked by him to get two "heirship affidavit"'s from neighbors who knew the previous owners. He says the reason is because the "warranty deed" that WE got when we bought the house says one of the owners who died did not have a will. The warranty deed for US when we BOUGHT the house says that the husband and 3 daughers owned the house. He wants the "heirship affidavit" from neighbors who can testify that she only had 3 daughters.

After I've thought about this, I am wondering how this benefits us as SELLERS of the property. I am asking because there is some evidence that the lawyer knows the buyer (the evidence is that when we told the buyer who the closing attorney was, he said "Oh, I know Robert."), and when I asked the laywer, twice, if he knew the buyer, he never said yes or no. He basically said he can't remember everyone who he has been involved with.

Why are we, as sellers, being asked to fill out an Heirship Affidavit if we have no interest in the house after close? Does it make sense for an attorney to ask us, the sellers, to do this? Is it possible that the attorney has some relationship with the buyer and is trying to help him?

Other fact:We have paid for the house. We own it.

Thanks.

**A: hire your own attorney.

Originally posted by HomeGuru
**A: hire your own attorney.

Hi-

Thanks for your quick reply on a holiday weekend!


We did hire an attorney:The guy I'm talking about. However, as I've implied, we think he may have a conflict of interest, and misrepresented himself in our meeting with us by not disclosing he has talked to and knows the buyer. This "heirship affidavit" may support this belief. However, neither my wife or myself know much about the law, and there might be a good reason why he is asking us to do this affidavit. Is there any reason why a seller would want to do this?

You misintrepretated HG's advice. Your current attorney is not "Yours" since he was suggested to you by the real estate agent.

Go out and find a new attorney with whom you are comfortable. And yes, it is perfectly o.k. to ask an attorney if they have a business and/or personal relationship with any of the parties involved and to what extent.

In other words, hire an attorney like you would any other employee: one you are comfortable with and with whom you have confidence in law and in personal integrity.

[HomeGuru]

In addition, a closing attorney does not represent either Buyer or Seller but should be a disinterested third party.
The writer in this thread has no attorney and therefore no legal representation.
No real estate agent and no attorney many times results in mo problems.

Just so you know, I didn't see you on the board when I tried to enlighten the poster. Besides, "Scruffy" told me to do it

[HomeGuru]

That's because sometimes I use my powers and become the Invisible Man. Your response to the writer was correct anyway.