Property of deceased grandparents

[Joyce Neal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas. I was recently contacted by an uncle that told me my Grandparents will had been lost. (both grandparents are deceased). The lawyer is needing names, ages, and addresses/contact info of my mom's children (my mom is also deceased) before they are able to sell house/property. My question is why would the attorney need information from the grandchildren in order to make it a legal sell of the estate?

 

[anteater]

If grandmother did not have a will (or at least a will that would be accepted as valid by the court) and your mother predeceased your grandmother, then you and your mother's other children would stand to inherit in your mother's place.

The attorney would need to know the heirs' contact information information in order to send the proper probate notices and, when the time comes, how to distribute the estate's proceeds. (There is also a possibility that Arkansas law would require that the estate's heirs consent to the sale of the property by the estate's administrator. I doubt it, but it is possible. Depends upon Arkansas law.)

 

[Joyce Neal]

My grandfather was the last to pass on of my grandparents. Nothing was done with the estate then. My Mom died 1 1/2 years later. The estate is in Illinois, but all of my mom's children live in Arkansas. I assume that the same principle applies. even though both grandparents were deceased before my mom, but nothing was done with the estate until now? Is there a limitation of years that you have before you put property in probate?

 

[anteater]

Strictly speaking, since your Mother survived her father, what she had a right to inherit from his estate should be distributed to her probate estate.

The administrator of grandfather's estate (which I assume is your uncle) and his attorney may simply be trying to take the most expeditious route. I don't know. They may be asking for the contact info only to be able to send the probate notices to the heirs at law, and, at this point, not even be addressing any distributions from the estate.

You lose nothing by asking them questions.

Does someone have a problem in providing this information?

 

[curb1]

Another question which will need to be answered is, "What happened to "mother's" estate?

 

[Joyce Neal]

That make sense, but my mom didn't have an estate so it never went into probate. My brothers bought her land and trailer house days before she passed. At the time of the sale it was still owed mortgage on it. Her SS check went directly to the mortgage holder. She was a cancer patient and was on Medicaid so the amount that was in her checking account minimal. My brother's name was also on her checking account. The only liability she had was an old van that was reposed after her death. She owned another old car in poor condition and a her personal items in the house. All together she couldn't have had more than $25,000 in assets (and that would have been a stretch). We did file her tax (federal and state) for the year she passed through her CPA. Between the two she got $10 back. If there was anything to be distributed to her estate from the sell of her parents house would we need to go ahead and set up probate so federal and state taxes could be collected from it? I think I read somewhere that you could take up to 5 years to set up probate.

 

[anteater]

I think I read somewhere that you could take up to 5 years to set up probate.

I don't know of a state that has a time limit for opening probate. A fair number of states have time limits within which a will can be submitted for probate. If those time limits are not met, the usual default is to proceed intestate - as if a will does not exist.


I wouldn't get hung up right now about probate for your mother's estate. See what happens with grandfather's estate distribution first.