Q: May children of the deceased use an Affidavit of Heirship in Tennessee to legally sell real estate (house) to neighbor?
House in Paris, TN owned by father and mother with TennCare assessment. Father passed in 2015 while mother was in nursing home with dementia. Family was advised by attorney that estate needed to be opened. Both had wills which appointed each other as Execs with me as alternate, but were drawn up in Minnesota (previous residence) prior to moving to TN. Turned into a drawn out mess due to mother's lack of capacity, Chancery turnover, lack of communication by atty, etc. Father's estate officially closed as of 12/23/19 (over 4 years later)! Meanwhile, mother passed in 2017. Since the first estate cost us about $7k in fees with no apparent outcome for the family other than the estate is officially "closed" (literally the fees cost more than the personal assets left behind). In hindsight, I believe we were bamboozled by the atty. There are 6 children and we all live over 1,000 miles away from TN. House vacant and disrepair. Neighbors will purchase for $18k TennCare Assessment.
A: You haven't asked a question. What do you want to do? File a complaint against your former attorney? Sell the house? You would be wise to hire another attorney to discuss options and determine the best course of action.
A: Affidavits of Heirship are used to transfer title to property of a decedent that died without a will. It sound like (but this is not clear) that the house is now titled in the mother's name as the result of probating the deceased father's estate. You could possibly now transfer title to the house to the mother's heirs by filing her will as a muniment of title, but that is best used when the family intends to keep the house for at least six years. If the family wants to sell right away, the muniment of title is not a good choice because you will find title companies reluctant to insure, and you will need a Tenncare release as well. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this calls for a probate of the mother's estate, especially if there are any other assets that also need to be retitled.
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