The majority of probate attorneys I worked with always ran a title search on any real property when they opened the estate. Else how could they know WHO can legally sell it (WHO all is in title?) and what is against it (the equity in the estate asset)? Personally, it seems the responsible way for any estate to handle real property which they can't personally know everything about. Many people themselves don't know what is agaINST THEIR own REAL ESTATE, SO HOW CAN A NON OWNER, without at least a title search?
An estate adminstrator (sic) must make certain the real estate is not at risk of foreclosure by making sure they have done due diligence and researched ALL liens, judgments, delinquent taxes and mortgages. It is their duty to be fully informed. You can't properly administer an estate if you don't know what you need to know.
BTW: in my area, it is, unless altered in the offer, considered the sellers responsibility (standard practice, preprinted as such on the state bar approved forms) to pay for the owner's policy and to prove to the buyer they can transfer good title.
In other words you simply “work” with probate attorneys and are not one yourself. And as such you’ve gone a bit overboard.
Never in my long career in representing the personal representatives of decedent’s estate, that included land, did I require the PR to incur the
unnecessary expense of having a “title search” performed! Nor have I known it to be a routine practice in “
MY AREA”
And please pardon me for calling attention to the obvious:
One’s personal experiences in this field and especially those of a layperson and how they interpret those experiences are infrequently accurate reflections of applicable law.
Here for example, your personal “
understanding” of the mandatory duties of an estate administrator as including:
. . . must make certain the real estate is not at risk of foreclosure by making sure they have done due diligence and researched ALL liens, judgments, delinquent taxes and mortgages.
Is not to be found in any statutory probate or case law!
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Furthermore it would be more accurate to say that the so-called “
approved forms” from the state bar association are RECOMMENDED FORMS ONLY!
That regulatory body is not constitutionally formed as a principal division of state government, particularly not of the legislative branch.
Notwithstanding you personal experience, the responsibility of bearing the costs of title insurance is just as subject to negotiation as any other terms of sale!
Have a nice day.
