Deceased Owners
I am in the process of picking up a lot and there are about eight owners to this property. The name on the tax role is a couple's name (the husband is deceased) and then when I went to look at the deed, it has about 4 other couples and a couple of single individuals who all contributed some percentage to the deed. They are more than willing to sign the property over to me for back taxes. My question is some people who were on title are now deceased and others (maybe one or two people) I can not find. The majority wants this out of their hair. 1st - How should I have them deed me the property (do I have to state their percentage on the face of the deed? Or can I just copy the addendum from the previous deed and have them sign as they did the original? The Deed is in One person's name and then they are added to the addendum? 2nd - Do I have to worry about people who are deceased - being that they can not convey title? No one is contesting this, so it seems pretty straight-forward. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Valerie 
Do you have a problem with deceased owners? YOU BET YOU DO!!! Could be as simple as recording the death certificate with your local Recorders/Deeds Office; and, as complicated as going through a full blown Probate (court) to determine who the heirs and devisees of their Estate are, among other things. Pray that the heirs are as easy going as the rest of the owners. (May be the same people)
I personally would stay as far away from properties with deceased owners as possible. Probates can take up to 3 years, or more, to settle, which may be as long as it takes to find the other missing persons. Assuming they are alive.
ABSOLUTELY, DO NOT put what the percentages are on their conveying out deed. This could cause additional clouded title problems down the road. For example: Say someone has a 50% interest in a piece of property and when they go to sell they put that they are conveying a 50% interest. Did they convey an entire 50% of the property or just 25%? Could be either. Always leave off the percentages if they are conveying out their entire interest. Remember, you cannot convey more than you own, but you can convey less.
Lastly, you always want to try to get the most coverage with the type of deed you use. A Warranty Deed provides the maximum coverage (in most states). Most likely, since it sounds like you are not interested in getting title insurance, the owners will give you a Quit Claim Deed, which provides no guarantees. I STRONGLY recommend you get title insurance. The title company will iron out all the title mess, and take the risk of any title errors.
Good Luck!!
Kazor
Thanks Kazor,
I'm still working on the deal. I have a buyer and we were planning on opening escrow as soon as I have all the signatures on the Deed. We'll see how it goes.
Val
Hi Val,
KAZOR is 110 percent correct in his post.
I couldn't have said it better.
The only thing I would like to add is that in certain areas a spouse can file an Affidavit to Terminate Joint Tenancy upon the death of the other. This would be done at your county recorder's office with a certified copy of the death certificate. This takes the decedent off the deed allowing the surviving spouse to sign.
You might check if you can do this where you live and of course seek proper advice before proceeding.
Best of luck
John (LV)