Death Records Now

I am not sure if anyone knows the answer to this. My father died in the state of California in 2004, and my sister and live in Pennsylvania. He hadn’t been in contact with us for years, before he got sick very quickly and died. My sister and I had no relationship with the controlling woman he was married to. Any questions asked her were not answered, and we let it go. We have since learned the wife has dementia. Not sure where she is. My sister and I are trying to find out if my father had a will or whats happening to the property out there? We have heard just recently through friends of my fathers out there, that the property is deteriorating and no ones been around the house for awhile. I would like to know what is public record out there and can I find it online? Such as property tax. if the house is paid off. Up for sheriff sale? Or if he had a will. Our father was cremated and my sister I know his ashes are there somewhere in the house. If nothing else we would like to at least get his ashes,and bring them home, but before we would go out there, we want to make sure the house isn’t getting sold for back taxes. We don’t know who his lawyer was and we are basically stuck trying to find out information. Any help someone could give me as to guide me in the right direction would be appreciated. I was able to at least get his death certificate, but that’s about all.

If your father had a will and it was probated then it is public record. Call the probate court in the county in which your dad lives and ask if there was an estate opened under his name. Also, if you have the address of the property you can get a title company to check for a nominal fee to see if the property is in your dad’s name still. If it is, and there has been no estate opened, and you cannot find a will, then his next of kin are entitled to the property.

My mom left us a will. She made me an Excutor. Her house is worth less then 500K, maybe around 400K. Me and my brother are in agreement. Her will was to split it 50/50. Do we have to go to probate court and how long do we have before we go to court? We would rather not use the court services unless we must. There is no other value nor money. I took original will to downtown to 12th floor, record it. They made me open self addressed evelope that mom originaly mail to her-self. is there a book that takes you step by step or on internet. I hate to go to courts, unless it is a must

Yes you have too go to probate. You might be able to do it yourself. Check with legal aide for free advice.

I never knew my real father. My mother refuses to talk about it. I do know his name and that he lived and died in California. I want to know how do i find his death record. I went to the government website and got really confused. I just want to know if that’s where he died. How do I get Information?

Find out what region of CA your dad died and then go to the probate court for that region.

Mom died intestate back in 1998, down here in Florida . I have been on record as being the title holder to the house ever since — even tho her estate never went thru Probate.

A recent title search resulted in a failure to establish the "chain of title" from Mom to myself.

Since Mom’s death the taxes have been paid by me; the mortgage is in my name; the deed on record shows that I am entitled to the property and has been on record since 1998.

My options so far appear to be either proceed with a "Summary Administration" in the Probate Court; or, to file a "Quiet Title Action".

Do I have any other options ?; and what would be the best choice to entitle me to the property?

Avoid a quiet title action if you can. Failure to establish a chain just means the property hasn’t cleared probate and the estate hasn’t resolved her interest; but if the deed of record shows you as an owner, this is just a continuing probate problem and her estate needs to be resolved; at which point if you were in title as joint tenants her death certificate will resolve the issue.

Probate court; but get an atty opinion.

and if they are how do I access them ,I am in florida and the death was in dec of 2007 does this help

The death certificate would come from the Florida Department of Health. Here is a website that will give you step by step instructions as to how to procede. You may need to send proof of your relationship and don’t forget to send the appropriate amount of money

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/planning_eval/vital_statistics/deaths.htm

You WILL NOT find death certificates online. Death records are restricted in most states and the revenue generated from ordering them are a cash cow for most places.

As far as the will goes… Not everyone leaves a will. Sadly, most to not. However, after a persons death a will needs to be probated. If this person died in December, it may not have even gone through probate yet if they left one. You might want to check with the probate court in the appropriate county to see if it has been filed.

Florida does have procedures for distibution if the person did die without a will. They are as follows.

Florida law sets forth rules for the distribution of an estate if there is no will.

If these is a surviving spouse and no lineal descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate.

If there is a surviving spouse with lineal descendants, and all lineal descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $20,000 of the probate estate, plus one-half of the remainder of the probate estate. The descendants share in equal portions the remainder of the estate.

If there is a surviving spouse with lineal descendants, and not all lineal descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to one-half of the probate estate, and the descendants of the deceased share the other half of the estate in equal shares.

If there is no surviving spouse and there are descendants, each child is entitled to an equal share, with the children of a deceased child sharing the share of their deceased parent.

If there is no surviving spouse and no children or other descendants, Florida law provides additional rules for distributing an estate in such circumstances.

Source http://florida-probate-lawyers.com/