Ohio Probates and Land Transactions

PetersonPamela1

I have a few questions about how Ohio land was transferred to children after a father died.

I have a probate of the father of my family. The probate does not mention anything about the transfer of his real estate, it only includes the sale of his personal property. I found a land deed where one of his daughters sold her share of her inherited property to another family member, but I can't find a deed that transfers the land from the father to her or to any of the other children.

After the death of a parent, is land sometimes transferred to their children without a deed, or will there always be documentation? 

If the land WAS transferred via a deed, would that transfer have to be completed after the probate was settled or could it be transferred before the probate was settled?

Thanks so much,

Pam

Ronald H. Olson

@PetersonPamela1

Most states have three kinds of laws that could affect this time of death situation:

(1) Deed Title: for example, if the deed was held in Joint Tenancy (there are several other forms of ownership), each person named on the deed would then hold an equal share in the whole real estate – if a remaining Joint Tenant wanted to sell his/her share, he/she would have to work with the remaining Joint Tenants to divide the real estate in to specific acres he/she could then sell. If there was only one remaining Joint Tenant (which is often the case with a husband and wife), that remaining Joint Tenant would own the whole real estate outright;

(2) Intestacy Laws: these laws come into play where there is no will or trust (see below) and the deceased owned the real estate in his/her own name (i.e., no one else named on the deed). The intestacy law of the state (they differ from state to state) then acts as the decedent’s will and says who will inherit the real estate, and the transfer takes place through probate court;

(3) Will or Trust: a will has to be probated and goes through a probate court to transfer the real estate. A trust does not have to be probated, and the trustee administers the trust held real estate in accordance with the terms of the trust, which might include a distribution of the real estate to the beneficiaries of the trust (e.g., give each beneficiary, possibly children of the trustor who died, a deed for specific acres).

Most likely, the deceased father passed the real estate via (1), above, though it is possible (but less likely) the real estate was held in a trust or passed via intestacy laws. If (1) above is the case, there should be an original deed showing the deceased father and the others who owned the real estate with him prior to his demise.

Good Hunting!

Ronald H. Olson

PetersonPamela1

Ronald,

Thank you so much for your explanation! Your detailed answer will help a lot as I move forward with this project and others.

With much gratitude!

Pam