Who owns this land in Pennsylvania (no home on it, in residential area) and what are the steps to sell it?

Question

1. Deed in married paternal grandparent’s names; she died 1948/no will; he died 1959 
2. His will left all to their 4 kids to “share and share alike” 
3. The oldest son &daughter who were co-executors omitted this land on the petition; only the family home was listed 
4. Oldest son died 3 years later with no will/no children; his wife filed for his estate 
5. An unmarried childless son died 5 years later/no will 
6. The other two children (my dad/his sister), both married, had 4 & 2 children each, respectively all living 
7. Dad/his sister/her husband are deceased; my mom who was married to my dad is alive 
8. After (4) my dad’s sister gave him tax bills for this land 
9. As bills were small he paid them but didn’t know much about it 
10. My mom paid bills after he died in 2009; he left all to her in his will 
11. The bills increased & mom wants to sell the land 
12. Deed is still in grandparents’ names & “grants &conveys to the said grantees, their heirs & assigns"

Mark Scoblionko · Answer

This is obviously a very complicated fact pattern, which must be discussed in person with a lawyer.  Because of the number of people involved and the fact that various people have died, it may be necessary to open other estates and/or re-open estates that were closed.   
 
As best as I can tell, your grandfather took title by right of survivorship when your grandmother died.  His estate never conveyed title to his four children, one of whom was your dad.  His estate should likely be re-opened to make that conveyance.   
 
Your first uncle who died left only a wife and he is now deceased.  Consequently, there would be a conveyance of one-fourth to that uncle's estate, which would, in turn, immediately convey it to the surviving wife.  If she is living, she owns one-fourth. 
 
The second uncle died unmarried and childless, and with no Will. An estate must be opened for that uncle  to receive a one-fourth share from your grandfather's estate, and then immediately convey one-eighth each to your father's estate and your aunt's estate, which would each own three-eighths of the property at that point.  
 
 Based on your description, your mother received your father's  three-eighths share, but would have to have a deed from his estate to support that. 
 
The final three-eighths share owned by your aunt would pass by her Will or, if she had no Will, by intestacy.  Her husband likely would have gotten a share (unless he pre-deceased her), but, since he has died, each of their children likely ends up with a three-sixteenth share. 
 
You need a lawyer to carefully review the deed and all the estate situations to piece things together.  The fact that your mother or others paid certain bills is irrelevant except that she, or others, would be entitled to be reimbursed for those bills from the sale proceeds.   
 
It sounds like all the people with interests, presumably your late uncle's wife, your mother and your two cousins, would have to participate in a sale, and such a sale could be accomplished only by completing the necessary steps to be able to have deeds executed to complete the full chain of title.  It is also possible that a lawyer will recommend that a quiet title action be filed, if loose ends remain. 
 
Unfortunately, this is likely to be a time-consuming and expensive process.

Q: Who owns this land in Pennsylvania (no home on it, in residential area) and what are the steps to sell it?