I am trying to acquire a small farm, circa 1800's that belonged to my uncle and will go for tax sale next spring. My uncle left no will and did leave a few debts behind including funeral bill. The farmhouse never had electric or indoor plumbing, has several barns,and outbuildings in good shape. The town has taxed it as vacant land as house is considered not fit for occupancy due to no electric,no septic, well, etc. (Has excellant spring and really neat outhouse) It has been a dream of mine to acquire this farm, sell some of the land (acreage 150 acres) to pay off debts and backtaxes, lawyer, etc. and homestead here (with my sheep and bees that I have now), when I retire in 5 years. I did retain a lawyer to this end. Question: how long and how far do they have to look for relatives. My uncle was my grandmothers brother, in his 90's, was married but had no children. Will this take years? Can a distant previously unknown cousin on my aunts side force me to sell farm for a share? I contemplated letting it go at tax sale and bidding on it, but as this is a developing area, I would be devasted if a developer got it. This place has been in our family since 1927, has many fruit and nut trees, an old hardwood forest and great pastures and views. My uncle spoke of maybe putting it in a land trust and down the road I would love to honor his memory and work with a historical preservation and/or land trust. Thank you for taking time to read this. Kate in New York

-- kate henderson (sheeplady@catskill.net), November 15, 2000

Answers

Kate, I dont know the answer to your question. But I sure hope you get it! It sounds wonderful!

-- Denise (jphammock@msn.com), November 15, 2000.

Kate, When dealing with estate probate and tax liens, get an attorney. Speak with trusted aquaintances for referal to a lawyer with experience in this type of litigation. Choose an attorney just as you would a doctor for surgery, with plenty of questions.Most lawyers won't charge for the initial consultation.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 15, 2000.

I've been through that and you do need a lawyer that specializes in that sort of thing.

-- Shooter (jcole@apha.com), November 15, 2000.

The place sounds like a dream! Yes, get a blood sucking leach, no, no, no, excuse me,leaches fall off after you die, lawyers don't!

What's the difference between a lawyer and a carp? One's a scum sucking bottom feeder, the other lives in a river.

What do you get when you cross a lawyer and a pig? Nothing, there are some things a pig just wont do!

Thankyou, I'll be here all week. Seriously, I hope you get the place! John

-- John in S IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), November 15, 2000.

Kate, It has been my experience that you can lay CLAIM to the property for a nominal filing fee, that would at least keep the wolves at bay until you figure things out. As said, you will probably need a "person who is licenced to rob you in this state", unless you do your homework and decided to represent yourself, which can be a good thing in this Northern NY economy, as the towns and judges have about had it with the developers as they scramble to buy up land in hopes of the Native Americans getting a licence to gamble. Is the property near a reservation or Native American owned land? All the more reason to waste no time! Good luck, hope you can save the homestead!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), November 16, 2000.

This rather points out the importance of having a will. Locally a simple one will cost about $125.

Sounds like you need an attorney who specializes in settling estates and probate. Can a distant relative fine a claim in the future. Probably not if the proper announcements have been made in the local paper. Locally, that's three times.

Procedures for your filing to receive the property probaby vary from state to state. I think you have to file as the next of kin or something to claim it since there is no will to contest.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 17, 2000.

Kate, hope everything works out for you. It would be a shame if someone else got it. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for anyone without a will. I know it is an easy enough thing to put off - I'll do it when I have time, money, I'm still young, etc. Point is you could die at any time - accidents do happen - and do you want your family to have to go through all kinds of legal problems, etc? At least if you have a will, everything goes to who you want it to go to. If you don't have a will, it might end up in the hands of someone you would prefer it hadn't. And with a will, you can avoid the family fights that would have occurred without it. Good luck Kate!

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), November 18, 2000.

We went through this same thing years ago. When my husband was young he had a favorite Great Aunt who thought he hung the moon. She often said, in front of the entire family, that when she died (she was a childless widow) her estate was to go to him. By the time she died she was in a nursing home and the only thing she had left was 10 acres in the middle of nowhere in CO. My husband was overseas and unable to lay claim to this promised land until he returned.

When he got out of the service (1977) we began trying to get the land. Fortunately I found a very nice lady in the tax office who took time to help and explain things to me. I had talked to others before her but they all said "Get a lawyer". They were wrong!!!

The helpful clerk explained that anyone could pay the taxes to keep it from being sold at auction but the land would remain in the owners name not ours. This would not solve our problem but it gave us some time to make a plan. So we sent a check to cover all the back taxes and the current year. We sent a letter along with the payment explaining we were the nearest relatives and that this was family land and we would be contacting them later about transfering the title to us. I also had them change the address for the tax bill and information to our address.

I obtained a copy of my husband's Great Aunt's Birth Certificate along with his Grandmothers showing the same parents. I also got his Father's Birth Certificate and his, showing a family line. I got a copy of the death certificates for aunt & uncle, grandmother & grandfather and father & mother to show that no spouses were still alive to fight this. It took over a year to get all this together.

I then contacted the "helpful" clerk and asked what to do now. She said the land would not go to tax auction until taxes were missed for (I think it was) 3 years. She said for me to send copies of everything I had, even letters from the owner (Great Aunt) to my husband or anything showing proof of relationship. She explained I would also need to purchase a "bond" (I believe that is what she called it) which would enable me to purchase the land when the time came. She was even able to back out the current years tax payment so the "clock" would begin ticking for tax sale. She explained that proven relatives have first offer for land at a tax sale.

Every year they sent us a bond notice and bill. I think it cost us about $15 per year for (I think) 3 years. Finally, before we realized it, the time came. The land was to be auctioned and we were given first chance. It costs us less than $250 for the 10 acres. We still live in TX but know that our land is there when we get ready for it

My suggestion, call the tax office and try to find a helpful person. Ask what the procedure is to buy actioned land if you are a relative. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing it yourself.

-- Viv in TX (kudzu1@webtv.net), November 21, 2000.