Options for Transferring Interest of Long Deceased Property Owners

A property interest owned by someone who has been dead for many years is a problem that won’t go away on its own.  If the owner died years ago, but the property was never transferred out of their name, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to sell, lease or otherwise transfer the interest until it is in the name of the living person entitled to ownership.

Fortunately there are options for the transfer of property interests located in the state of Colorado, even when the owner has been deceased for years or even decades.

Three of the most commonly used options are discussed below.

Reopening the Estate

If a probate estate had been opened in the state of Colorado, the simplest way to transfer the interest of a deceased owner may be to reopen the estate.  This process involves filing a Petition with the court where the probate case was originally opened which results in the issuance of an Order reopening the estate and appointing a personal representative.  The personal representative can then transfer the property by deed to the rightful owner.   Upon reporting to the Court that the personal representative has accomplished the desired transfer of property, the personal representative is discharged and the estate is closed.

Petition for the Determination of Heirs or Devisees or Both, and of Interests of Property

Another option for transferring the property of a deceased owner is for an interested person to file a Petition for the Determination of Heirs or Devisees or Both, and of Interests of Property.  This option is available whether or not an estate has ever been opened in the state of Colorado.  To qualify, one year or more must have passed since the date of the decedent’s death.

The person filing the petition must serve a copy of the petition as well as a notice of hearing on the petition on other interested parties personally or by mail.  The notice must also be published once a week for three consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the proceeding is filed.

The result of this procedure is a Judgment and Decree issued by the court declaring the owner of the property interest.  This Judgment and Decree can then be recorded in the real property records of the county where the property is located to finalize the transfer.

Quiet Title Action

Yet another way to transfer property held in the name of a long deceased owner is through a quiet title action brought pursuant to Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.  A quiet title action usually involves publication of a summons in a local newspaper which must be published for five consecutive weeks.   The result of a quiet title action is a decree determining the owner of the property interest which can be recorded in the real property records of the county where the property is located.

A quiet title action is the most document intensive of the three options discussed in this article.  It typically takes the longest of the three options.  As a result, it is almost invariably the most expensive of the three options.  I tend to use a quiet title action as a last resort, when the other two options are not available.