Five adult siblings scattered across the country come together when they discover money is owed to their deceased parents' estate from a tax foreclosure and several business ventures.
The decedent in this case was a Texas mother who died intestate (without a will); her husband predeceased her. They shared five children collectively, two of which were half siblings from the husband's previous relationship. The property was deeded solely in the wife's name, which made things more complex with full-siblings, half-siblings, and possible generational claims that had to be addressed under the Texas Estates Code before any type of recovery could take place.
The court records showed the couple's homestead had gone through a tax foreclosure, and their estate was owed funds after a sherrif's sale. The document listed seven individuals (possible heirs) as co-defendants in rem only. We found information on the possible whereabouts of each family member listed on the record and began our outreach there.
We solidified the brother and one of the sisters as clients to recover their portions of the funds, then hired one of our legal collaborators to conduct further research into their case. What we found was staggering:
Initial Finding:
Tax foreclosure surplus proceeds
Further Findings:
The deceased couple were partners in several gas stations and grocery stores in Texas and Oklahoma and were owed proceeds from these business ventures.
Challenges:
The business entities had gone through various ownership structures
Outcome:
Our legal collaborator hired a bench of lawyers in a cross-state legal effort to establish the rightful heirs and owners of the assets.
WE FIGHT FOR PEOPLE ultimately gained consensus from the remaining siblings who lived in Texas and Georgia. They set aside their differences to join forces, which resulted in a full recovery of assets due to their parents' estate.