Title: How do I get insurance on a property in a deceased relatives name?
Question:I would like to rent this property to potential renters. So I need to change the deed to get renters insurance? This property's deed is in a deceased relative's name. She died decades ago and there are several heirs. Some of the heirs to the place are known others are distant or unknown. So, we can not get insurance on the place because the deed has to be in insurance buyers name.  

First, One relative has paid all of the taxes for the last 30 years. Because no other heirs have any interest, is it legal to just put the property in his name without their consent? If so, how?

Or Second, Is it legal to put the property into a newly created Trust that includes all potential heirs? If so, how?


Answer #1: So this is where those law school questions come from.

The problem here is that no one acted reasonably in clearing up the estate of the relative decades ago when the person died.  There is now a heavily clouded title, which will make selling this thing or doing anything with it incredibly challenging.

We'll ignore that you refused to provide your state/country and that's critical to giving an answer here and I'll give you the general answer.  First, you say that no other heirs have an interest in the property - this is legally incorrect. Had the estate been probated, they would have had an interest.  That alone is going to screw this title up in a big way.  To clean up the title, you're going to need an attorney and will need to get quitclaim deeds from the heirs *and possibly their heirs*.  If they refuse, you'll need to sue them to clarify interest rights.

You cannot make changes to the deed without the consent of a court or the heirs.  This is firmly in the "you need an attorney to accomplish this" territory.
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