Q: I have been paying property taxes on heir property for 5 years in Alabama. Property is in a rural area.
No other heirs contribute to the taxes. Can I legally claim property after s specific number of years.
A:
No, you can't. A joint owner who pays taxes on jointly owned property does so on behalf of himself and his co-owners. Your only remedy is to hire a competent real estate trial lawyer to file a suit for partition under the provisions of sections 35-6-20 through 35-6-66 Code of Alabama 1975. You can find the Code of Alabama online by Googling it. The Court will either order that the property be divided equitably among all the heirs, or will order it sold and the proceeds divided equally among all the heirs after paying the expenses of sale. If the latter the Court may order that your lawyer be paid out of those proceeds. That possibility may be sufficient to induce the lawyer to take the case on a contingency..
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