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quiet title against unknown heirs

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currie-s

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? TEXAS

Hello,
I invest in real estate and came across a deal that I need someone more knowledgeable to give me their imput on before I get too tied up. I'm very comfortable doing title work, tracing ownership and dealing with heir situations. However, in this case, the property that I am interested in buying has approx 29 heirs. I say approx 29, because an oil company leased the property a couple years back, and there were 29 heirs that signed. The last deed on the property was in 1904, and as you might have guessed there are a few generations between then and now. Usually I follow all of the heirs from the last deed forward, but a couple of them have just disappeared and the other heirs don't know if they are alive or dead. The 29 heirs that signed the oil lease on the property want to sell me their interest, however I am concerned about ever obtaining a clear title. I did some research on the computer and saw that I might be able to do a quiet title suit against the "unknown heirs of the XYZ estate" after I had the known 29 heirs deed me their interest. Is this the way I should handle the situation? If so, can anyone give me a ballpark time frame and costs involved in a quiet title suit?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Currie Smith
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
You should be consulting with a Texas real estate attorney or probate attorney about this, since there is not likely be a Texas attorney in those specialties reading this message board. You should also consult with a professionally certified genealogist in the same county where the heirs are to get an estimate about the cost for the genealogist to complete the research to locate the heirs for you--they have access to records sources that would be able to trace specific leads to find the currently surviving heirs.
 

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