Several years ago, I took possession of my father's property in Idaho under a Living Trust. When I looked into selling the property, I had a title search done. It turns out that several owners previous to my father had sold the property with only the husbands signature on the deed. The title company said that the deed was listed as the husband or the wife as legal owners. Unfortunately, Idaho is a common law state which means that both signatures were needed to clear the title. I can not locate the individual or any heirs, nobody ever heard of these people in this town. The wife may not have even been alive when the property changed hands. The title company said that I may have to quiet the title. I live in Washington, do I need to hire an Idaho lawyer or can I hire a Washington lawyer? What is the range of costs associated with an action of this manner? :confused:

You're going to need an Idaho real estate attorney for this. Call a few and see if they will give you a free phone consultation. If not then your best bet is to schedule free consultations with a few attorneys, all for the same day, and then take a trip for the day to meet with them. They should be able to tell you what the approximate legal fee will be during the consultation.

Good luck!

Yes as Lisa noted, they will have to file and do this in court in the county where the property is located, and the attorney will have to be a member of the bar of that state.