A: Loraine’s answer: Unfortunately, the answer to your question depends on a lot of factors and it's not possible to answer it given the information you've provided or the limits of this forum. However, if (A) dad and stepmom owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship at dad's death and stepmom survived but later died with a Will that left everything to the granddaughter, or (B) dad died with a Will leaving the property to stepmom outright and she died with a Will leaving the property to granddaughter, or (C) dad and stepmom owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship at dad's death and stepmom died without any Will and with granddaughter as her only heir, then granddaughter would have more rights to any excess proceeds from the tax foreclosure than dad's children would. That's because, in any of those situations, dad's entire interest in the property would have become stepmom's interest at dad's death, and then at stepmom's death the property would have become granddaughter's property, leaving dad's children out of luck.

There are situations in which dad's children could still have interests in the property. For example, if dad and stepmom owned the property as tenants in common at dad's death, and if dad died with no Will or with a Will that left his interest in the property to both stepmom and his kids, and if stepmom later died leaving her interest in the property to granddaughter (either via a Will or because granddaughter was stepmom's only heir if no Will), then dad's kids could have the right to split a portion of dad's half of the proceeds from the sale of the property, but the granddaughter would potentially have the right to an even larger share of the proceeds, because she might have received stepmom's share of dad's half PLUS stepmom's own half.

Dad's kids need to find an attorney who has experience with probate and real estate matters and provide that attorney with all of the information that will be needed to figure out exactly how dad and stepmom held the property at dad's death and what then happened to it when stepmom died. That's the only way anyone can tell you exactly what's going on.

Best wishes to the family and my condolences on the loss of dad and stepmom.

A: Loraine’s answer: Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question: If your mother was the sole owner of the property in question, if she lived in Georgia, and if the Will provides for her estate (or that property in particular) to be distributed to you, as the beneficiary, then you, as the Executor of the Will, need to execute an Executor's Deed (sometimes called an "Assent to Devise" or something similar) that transfers the property from her estate to you. That deed is what then gets recorded with the Superior Court of the county where the property is located. The court clerk can't prepare it for you, and I do NOT recommend that you try doing it yourself. Get a real estate attorney to help you. The attorney will likely need to see a copy of the Will (preferably a certified copy from the probate court that shows the Will has actually been admitted to probate) and a copy of your Letters Testamentary in order to prepare the deed. The attorney may also need to see a death certificate for your mother. The attorney should also be able to file the deed for you once you've signed it. I don't recommend doing a deed yourself because that's a good way to make a mistake and end up with a property that has a clouded title, so you can't sell it or borrow against it easily. Depending on how your mother acquired the property and whether she had title insurance on it, you might also want to get a title search performed and purchase title insurance for yourself.

In addition, if you haven't been using a probate attorney for help, I would really recommend getting a consultation with one, just to make sure that you've covered all of the other things you need to do to administer the estate properly. It's easy to miss things if you don't have good advice.

Best wishes to you.

A: Loraine’s answer: My condolences to you and your husband on the loss of his grandmother. As for your question: In Georgia, when a deceased person's Will is being offered for probate, the person's heirs must receive notice and a copy of the Will. An "heir" is a person who would receive a portion of the net probate estate if there were no valid Will, and so the offering of a Will for probate affects that person's potential rights and interests with regard to the estate. A person's status as an heir is not affected by whether or not that person is also a beneficiary under a Will; if you are an heir under state law, you are an heir. If a deceased person is not married but has children, then the person's children are first in line to be the person's heirs. If a child died before the deceased person did (e.g., your husband's mother), then that child's own children take that child's place as heirs. What this all means is that your husband and his brother (assuming they are his mother's only children) are among his grandmother's heirs. As heirs, they are entitled to receive notice that a Will is being offered for probate as their grandmother's Will. If you can get all heirs to consent to having a Will admitted to probate, it makes it easier to get the probate done. However: Your husband and his brother should make sure that they fully understand and are okay with anything they are asked to sign, BEFORE they sign it. Ideally, they should consult their own probate attorney, so that the attorney can review any documents, make sure they are getting every document they should be getting, and that they understand what the effects of any signature will be. If they sign a petition consenting to the probate of their grandmother's Will, they could lose any ability they might have to try to challenge it. If they later decide that they want to try to challenge the Will, it might be too late.