In my previous post I stated that my father had recently passed away with no will. The only thing he owned was a two acre piece of property with a small trailor on it. We checked with the assessor and it only shows the property to be worth about $19000 and the trailor another $3000. I'm not familiar with real estate but I think this is assessed for more than what it would be worth for someone to buy it. I believe he owns the side of a hill behind his house which wouldn't be suitable for building a house on. Either way, we are going to have to get an attorney to get this in our name but my brother told me today that my father owed money to the IRS a long time ago. He is pretty sure my dad never paid it. So I'm wondering would it have been possiable for my father to own this land and house without the government trying to take it? He was on disabiltiy if that matters. What we're afraid of is that if we invest money into a lawyer that we'll waste it if the government comes in and takes the place after we're done.

Thank you.

Yes its possible. You should not transfer the property into your names until you have determined what debt your father left. That debt needs to be paid from the estate before you can distribute it.

You can contact the IRS to determine if there is any outstanding debt

Yes, as Scott said nothing should be transferred till all of your fathers debts are paid. Often the property will have to be sold to pay those debts off.

But the attorney will show you this, since there are legal postings of debts and other things that will have to be done before you merely sign the property over to you

Thank you so much.