Tax sale in Los Angeles (questions regarding the will)

[yandi]

I would appreciate if anybody can help me finding info on this situation.

I just found a land that is owned by a dead person. This land is going to be auctioned on Aug 8th at the Los Angeles County tax sale.

I have located the dead person's grandson, who has the same name as his. This grandson did not know about the land and not too interested in keeping it. I think he would be happy if he can get some money out of this though.

I have permission to speak to his mother (ie, the dead person's daughter), and he gave me her phone number.

It would be nice to be able to buy the land from the owner directly and not hassle with the auction. (Once it goes on to the auction, it is harder to get.)

What do I have to do to get the inheritance info? Where is the Will kept? Do you think the daughter has it? Or is it in a county office somewhere?

Let's say the dead man did not pass the land to his children. Is the land now a county's property?

What kind of lawyer I should talk to? Is it a tax lien lawyer? (I've never seen a tax lien lawyer, but I'm sure there is someone out there...) Or is it someone dealing with the will?

I get so confused... Please help me!

[yandi]

It is funny to answer to my own quesion. But here it is.... I got the info from the source I trust, but have not checked it myself yet.

Anyways, I thought maybe you can get something out of this too.

So, when the person dies and has a will, it is kept in the probate court.

When s/he did not have the will, it goes to his heirs.

When you want to buy the property in that situation, you need to get signatures from all the heirs.

Heirs mean the person's wife and children. If any of the children have passed away, then their children (i.e. the owner's grandchildren) need to sign. But if the children are alive, their children do not have to sign.

Does it make sense???

It does to me!

[smidgen]

Hi, I hope that I can help you a little? I am going threw a probate situation like you are in AZ. I know that the law is a little different but let me tell you what I know. Anyway, when a piece of property can gone to a County Tax Lien sale that means that there is a tax problem with the property (obviously) anyway, you might contact the family and they say sure take it off of our hands well there is a catch! You have to get an RE atty. and HE has to file the paperwork for you. I know that you might not want to hear me say that but the process of getting the property is a complicated one! If there is an error in any of your papers your case gets thrown out of court and then you need to wait for months before you can be heard again. Now if you are a newbie in Tax Lein Forclosures game I would suggest that you get an RE atty. they are the best thing since sliced bread everything is done right the first time and there is no way that the estate of the deseased can come back and tell you that this property in mine and not yours since you have a typo or something else that was in error.

I guess what I am trying to say is that probate is a very very sticky situation and there is a lot of things that I don't get? I will be getting my property out of probate hopefully by June 12th that is if everything goes smoothly?

Any other questions please feel free to email me!

[Debbie]

Let me see if I understand what Smidgen is saying.

A deceased (I like this word better) person left behind a RE property without any deceased family member inheriting it, the property goes into probate. (NOTE: I suspects a will or no will would prevent the property from going into probate. It is the entity that will prevent the property from going into probate).

An attorney is required to file papers to city/county on behalf of the interested party. Thereafter, the city/county must send notification ad in the newspaper for x number of days. I believe they also notify the deceased's family members.

Once the city/county has accomplished their mission and no family members are coming forward (or have no desire to keep property), the attorney then file some papers to ensure that the interested party gets the property free and clear, along with the Titile Company's help.

Any of the above information correct? If not, please correct me.
Thanx. Debbie

[smidgen]

Debbie, you got most of it on the money! The only thing that I have been told is if you decide to contact the family members on your own you are at risk (if you don't fill everything out correctly with the property owners if you want to buy it from them without the property to go to sale) of a few things.

1. Miss interpreting the legal law.

2. The land owners knowing where you live and if things go bad.... possible harassment.

3. If there are errors in your paperwork (frankly, if you are not an atty. that can happen easily) having your case dismissed or postponed for a long period of time.

What I have been told is that you can save money on the process by doing a title search on your own about the property but other than that.... it is the same fees.

I hope this helps Yandi?