Here is the situation:

My father was supposed to inherit .025 acres of land by his birth father. The uncle kept paying property taxes and never notified my father of the inheritance and will.

The uncle gives the city the deed for land in 2013.

The city sells the property to new owners and they have paid taxes on it. The city gave a warranty deed for the property.

Land is now being sold; the title company reached out to my father's estate because they discovered he was supposed to be the owner of the property back around 2000.

My father is deceased; passed away last November from pancreatic cancer just 3 weeks after diagnosis at age of 64.

Do we have any recourse or should we just sign over the property?

It seems the city never researched the property deed.

Do you want the property?

The title company would not have contacted you if you didn't have a legal interest in the property. No reason you shouldn't be paid for what was supposed to be yours. The fact that others have paid taxes on it is irrelevant. That's unless they try to go after adverse possession which is a possibility in your situation. Only question is how much is it worth and does that value justify you hiring a lawyer? How much value are we talking?

Thanks; I don't have an interest in the property.

The monies would go to an estate and divided 5 ways. I didn't think it was worth it either.

Thank you all.

12atm said:

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Thanks; I don't have an interest in the property.

The monies would go to an estate and divided 5 ways. I didn't think it was worth it either.

Thank you all.

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At the absolute least, yall need to ask for a portion of the sales price in exchange for signing away ownership. Id ask for a minimum of 50%. Do not sign it for free.

Mas89 said:

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The city can't sell what they don't own

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I wouldn't be too sure of this. Municipalities and gov't entities play by a different set of rules than the common man.

Depending on how long the uncle paid taxes on it and openly behaved as if it were his, in Texas, he might legally be the owner. You need an attorney if you want to fight it. If it's 0.025 acres in downtown Houston, that fight might be worth it to fight. But probably not.