paying house taxes of deceased parents mississippi

[klgallo]

In july 1998 my mother passed away,and in feb.1999 my father passed. there was no will drawn up for either one of them. my mother has 8 childrem, 3 of then which are from a previous marriage,and my father has 5. there is a house that is left and there is question of who the house belongs to. The taxes still have to be paid on the poperty and no one is willing to pay the taxes out of 8 children but myself. my fathers 5 children believe the house goes to us, because he died last. i need to know if i pay the taxes myself, can i have the house put in my name only? i have asked my sibling to help and they said they would, but i haven't received anything from them. i have called and sent letters, and i'm getting no where. no one lives in the house now, but the poperty will be given to the state in feb. 2002 if the taxes aren't paid. i have no idea of what to do. i don't want to pay by myself and the other sibling still have the freedom to come and go as they please. there is a deed drawn up on the house, but it only has my mother and father's name on it. what should i do? thank you, Kattie

 

[advisor10]

JULY 2, 2001

DEAR KLGALLO:

(1) What is the value of the house?

(2) How much are the taxes?

If the taxes aren't paid by a certain time, then the land and the home will most likely be put up for sale by the county and will be sold to whoever pays the taxes, so if you can afford to pay the taxes, you should do so if you don't want to lose control of the home.

Did either your father or mother have a personal representative (who would have performed the same function as an executor) to handle the financial affairs and pay the bills of their estates? This is the person who should be responsible for asking the advice of a probate or real estate attorney how this matter should be handled. The house might need to go through probate to decide who the proper owners are (heirs decided by intestate law, and will probably be shared by the siblings), and then you all can decide whether you want to keep or sell the home.

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