Q: My mother died intestate in 2002. She left a home in KC, Missouri in poor condition that has been demolished by the city
I paid the mortgage and taxes on the property the last few years before her death. I paid off the mortgage months after her death and have continued to pay the annual property taxes on the now vacant land. I would like to put the property in my name so that I can sell it. I have 2 siblings that I know must be taken into consideration. What do I need to do to be able to title the property in my name so that it can be sold?
A: You need to open an estate for your mother, in the jurisdiction she resided in at the time of her death. If that was in the same jurisdiction as the now vacant land, do it there. Once you are appointed executor or personal representative of the estate, you can then sell the property without putting it into anyone else's name to do so: the estate sells it, with you acting as the estate's representative. You then deposit the proceeds of the sale into an estate account, and follow the procedures to distribute the proceeds to all legal heirs. If your mother did not reside in Missouri at the time of her death, then once you open the estate in the state where she resided, you must open an "ancillary estate" in KC, Missouri in order to sell the property. Either way, you will require the services of a KC estate lawyer to assist you in the process.
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