selling grandparents house/next of kin

[Denise0710]

My father passed away and is listed on the title to my grandparents home. My uncles are trying to sell the home and I'm wondering as next of kin to my father are we (son & daughter) needed legally to sign off on any paperwork prior/during/after the sale of the home? And are we entitled to his portion of the profit as next of kin?

 

[dee_dub]

Are your grandparents still alive? If not, did they have wills? Did your father have a will? Who is executor or administrator of the estates? Where did this take place?

 

[Denise0710]

no they are not alive nor did they have a will nor did my father have a will. there was really no executor because my father had nothing to his name other than a bank account that his brother had control of upon death and it has been presumed that as his son and daughter we were his next of kin. the money in the account was given to us.

i'm in Texas.

 

[Denise0710]

i reposted above

 

[dee_dub]

Since there's no wills, the disposition of property is governed by Texas' laws of intestacy. I am going to assume there is no surviving spouse (i.e. your dad's wife, a.k.a. your mom or stepmom) to complicate things.

When your grandparents died, their house went to their children equally - your father and, I guess, your uncles. When your father died, his share passed to you and your brother. However, the house remains titled in the grandparents name, so you have what is called a "beneficial interest" - you're not the legal owner, but you're entitled to the share nonetheless.

Since you're not the legal owners, the property can be sold without your permission. You don't need to do anything. However, as beneficial owners of a share of the house, you are entitled to that share of the proceeds.

 

[Denise0710]

Thank you for your response. I do have one more question. My uncle is in the process of seeing an attorney to get the house put in only one brothers name (like I stated before the 3 brothers are currently listed on the title) to make the sale of the house (paperwork) go smoothly. He's informing us we may need to sign over the house in my father's behalf (if applicable) to the chosen brother. Since we're not legal owner's would we need to do this and more so should we? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[dee_dub]

I don't see why he would need to do transfer legal title to one brother to sell the house - three persons can sell as easily as one. Your father's portion could also be legally transferred to you and your sister, and you could be part of the sale. One way or another, your dad's share will need to be dealt with. I'd ask the lawyer he hires about the rationale behind this, and get independent legal advice.