In 1965 DC estate left MD property to heirs, 2 of whom are deceased. Deed not transferred. What is the process to sell land?

You wrote:
“Grandfather died in DC in 1965 with considerable assets. In his will he left an undeveloped parcel of land located in MD to 4 heirs. Of these 4 heirs, 2 are deceased and passed along their interest. There is no issue regarding the heirs...or is there? Now, the heirs want to sell the land, however, the PR in '65 never transferred the title / deed out of my grandfather's name. If the property is still in my grandfather's name and DC closed the case in 2000 how can it be sold?”
Answer: Perhaps Maryland ancillary administration was done back in 1965 or later -- check with the Maryland County Register of Wills and ask. If not, then it still needs to be done. There’s not a clear definite answer to whether the Maryland Register of Wills Office in the County where the land lies would require the PR to reopen the grandfather’s DC estate, or whether (if still alive, which seems unlikely) the old DC PR would be permitted to just proceed to file for Maryland ancillary administration and thereafter deed the property to whomever it ultimately should go. Since some heirs have died, their estates, if in Maryland, will also have to be probated (if they have not been already) to create a reliable, insurable, narrative “paper trail” in the deed language that recites who died when and with what estate number, whose Will left the property who, and who died next with what estate number etc., etc., explaining why the deed now transfers the property to whomever. Most Maryland county ROW offices would require an un-expired DC ‘Letters of Administration’ in order to approve the Maryland ancillary administration -- assuming the old DC PR is still alive. However, it is worth a shot -- it costs $100 fee to file for ancillary Maryland probate. If the old PR is still alive, but the Maryland ROW then says you have to re-open the DC estate before the Maryland ancillary will be approved -- you can just amend or supplement your petition for ancillary.
You wrote:
“I believe we need to re-open the estate in DC and also an ancillary estate in MD. Will this enable us to transfer the property per the '65 will?
Answer: You do not want to do more deeds than necessary. If the estates of the deceased heirs have already been probated, you should be able to just deed the property directly from the original `65 estate, to whomever the appropriate living recipients now are -- making sure you trace the history in the deed, as per above, without re-opening the estates of the deceased heirs.
If you are not yourself an attorney -- you will need one for this process.
--Anne LoPiano 301-593-6770