Hi all, I'm trying to help my grandson gather info on how to get property left to him by his grandmother into his name, also how would we be able to find out the value of the land? Any info to get us started would be a huge help. Thank you
Dear Christina,
Don't leave grandmother out of this picture. Some important things to consider are Medicaid purposes, maintain control over property, transfer property at a low cost, avoid probate, creditor protections, reduce gift taxes, avoid capital gains for the beneficiary, maintain exemptions.
A "savvy" real estate attorney can draw up a simply transfer deed for a flat rate price. ($250 max). You can then mail it to the county for filing/recording.
Please open and read this link to further educate yourself on ways to deed property.
As for property value, ask a local realtor who specializes in the area, to "run" you off some comps for "like" properties in the area. Most realtors get very anxious to help IF they think there may be a listing to be had, now or down the road.
Good luck,
Pat
794-LadyBirdDeed_miscdata.pdf (821 KB)Hello Ms. Malone
Thank you for responding, A small detail I left out is that his grandmother passed a few years back and the land was left to his now deceased father. Now to get the land into his name is what we are trying to accomplish. the land he inherited is 3 different places in Dakota.
So my ask is do we go to 3 different places to do this or can we do it all in one place? Also where can we start the process?
Thank you for your help
Chris
Dear Chris,
These are no small details you left out.
I will assume that because your son "inherited" the land, he inherited it through his father's Will.
I suggest you seek the advice of a local attorney experienced in estate/probate law. It all can be done in one place and one attorney. Call around first to pre-qualify these "legal eagles" and don't forget to ask what they will charge. If you like what you hear, then make an appointment.
Be prepared to furnish him with all legal info you may have ... like, deeds, copy of Will, how long it's been since father's death, etc. Ask him if Will can be probated as a Muniment of Title ... some states honor this method of probating a Will ... it's fast and affordable.
Good luck,
Pat
Pat has given excellent advice.
I was my mother's executor, and had a probated will. I first called the oil company that was in her files, and they suspended payments and gave me phone # for the county where the property was.
I called the county clerk where the property is, and they emailed a form to fill out for the transfer (you could ask if you might need two of the forms to do two transfers?) Ask what their requirements are about any signatures to be notarized, what to do in what order and what the fees are to send in with each transfer paperwork. Have a thorough list of what to do in what order, large flat envelopes for sending certified mail to the courthouse.
Documents: death certificates, wills, any old division orders for your own info, deeds. Birth certificates and amended birth certificate if there were any amended for the purpose of name change, or court record of name change if any names were changed.
An affadavit of heirship was permitted in Oklahoma, drawn up by my attorney.
You may first want to contact any oil companies if any have a lease, to find out their requirements and ask for any forms they have. They would need to see death certificates, and see that ownership has been transferred at the county. I had to locate info on death dates of several relatives who had passed, to assure that other heirs were not living. They sent "Division Orders" to show our new owners info, and that must be signed and returned to them by your grandson along with tax info (Form W-9), and I believe the division order gets recorded with the county.
Are you looking for value of the actual real estate or mineral rights? If real estate, I would look up on Zillow dot com as well as asking a realtor for advice? If mineral rights, someone here might respond to that as a more specific question.
It was the first time I had to go through this process, and it did seem daunting at first.