[shoper72]

In Florida, you can't claim adverse possession without color of title unless you can prove that you paid the taxes for at least the past year, and did other specific things, property tax-wise.

You claim that you paid the taxes, but "... The house almost went up for auction since they didnt pay them on time last year and would not let me go to tax collector and pay them this year ..." You suggest that you are renting the property. Sorry, but your story has just too many holes in it.

The fact that there is no will doesn't make any difference. You have no claim under the intestacy statute because you are not family.

Plan on moving. However your late landlord's son, or someone, will have to be appointed personal representative before he or she can sue you for eviction.

The landlord was like my uncle, and no one can be the representative due to the fact they are all felons. House is not in probate yet and they are unable to put it into probate due to no one can be there executor due to law issues. The wife (widow) has partial ownership of house and does not want the son to have it. She wanted me to take her to have the name changed on it. Is that possible?

[AK lawyer]

[QUOTE=shoper72;3100018]... and no one can be the representative due to the fact they are all felons.. . [QUOTE]
Someone who qualifies to be a P.R. can be found: distant relative, family friend, whatever.

And they need to hire an attorney in any event. The Florida Probate Code requires that it be done by an attorney.

... The wife (widow) has partial ownership of house and does not want the son to have it. She wanted me to take her to have the name changed on it. Is that possible?

Sure, she can give her interest to you.

[ScottGem]

The landlord was like my uncle, and no one can be the representative due to the fact they are all felons. House is not in probate yet and they are unable to put it into probate due to no one can be there executor due to law issues. The wife (widow) has partial ownership of house and does not want the son to have it. She wanted me to take her to have the name changed on it. Is that possible?

I asked you to try an relate all the facts to plug the holes and inconsistencies in your story. I understand that you probably don't understand a lot of what has gone on and that's what we are here for. But we can't help without the facts.

Now you are saying the widow has PARTIAL ownership. Earlier you said:

The widow was getting rent until she got the house in her name.

How do you expect us to be able to give you good advice when you keep changing the facts? And don't get me wrong. I don't think you are changing things purposely to confuse us, but rather out of a lack of understanding. But we need the facts.

As pointed out, FL law requires an attorney to handle probate, that means the attorney can be assigned as the executor, if all the relatives are exempted because of criminal records.

The widow can transfer HER share to you, but not the husbands, if she did not get the house under right of survivorship.

If you aren't going to give us the facts, then get an attorney to get this mess straightened out.

[joypulv]

At least the widow is alive. That's a relief, even if it doesn't get you the whole house in the end. What's not a relief are all the children who aren't going to be happy about this, so that's another reason why you MUST hire a lawyer, regardless of how much you are going to have to pay for one.

[AK lawyer]

... you MUST hire a lawyer, regardless of how much you are going to have to pay for one.

I'm wondering what a lawyer could accomplish for OP, whatever the price.

There are a few things, I guess:

• Getting a properly executed deed from the widow to her interest in the property (assuming she is still willing to give one)
  
• Getting specific advice on how to perfect an adverse possession claim, as I mentioned earlier.

[JudyKayTee]

I flat out don't believe any of this - there, I said it.

Too many twists and turns and inconsistencies. Someone is attempting to scam someone. After that it's all a blur.

[ballengerb1]

I made a similar comment days ago but it was quickly taken down. Someone may have not like the sarcasstic tone I used but I still smell something. This story keeps changing and I can't keep up with the trolling facts. There, I said it. Lets see if it stays this time. BTW, I have been told be Cliff, RIP, and Ray that if our posts are deleted or change it would be explained to us. That has never happened

[JudyKayTee]

In my State - NY - if there is no one "eligible" or "capable" of being the Executor the Court appoints one. No Estate stays open forever because everyone in the family is a felon.

[AK lawyer]

In my State - NY - if there is no one "eligible" or "capable" of being the Executor the Court appoints one. No Estate stays open forever because everyone in the family is a felon.

But, I suspect, someone still has to tell the court about the situation.

In this situation, it appears, the estate isn't "open forever". It was not opened in the first place. And it might stay that way for years.

That's what happens when a judicial system is so disjointed from reality. Strangely, it appears to me that the prohibition against pro se representation in probate has, in many cases, put probate out of reach. The effective result is that families without the financial incentive to hire a lawyer simpy sit on the situation for generations without any legal closure. If the real estate is in the family, and someone pays the taxes, there is no need to get title straightened out.

And the compexity tends to snowball. A man dies leaving a home in his name, widow and children. At that point it should be easy for her to go to a hypothetical probate court and fill out a form, maybe publish a notice to creditors, and get the creditors claims decided and clear title to the wife &/ or children.

But no. She has to hire a lawyer, who is required to make the whole thing unbelievably complicated. So, instead, she does nothing.

She grows old and dies. One of the children continues living in the home, raising his own family. The other children wandered off somewhere and they loose track of each other. The children of the stay-at-home child, when he dies, squabble over who gets what. At that point, things have gotten so complicated that it really does require the services of a lawyer in order to untangle the mess. :(

[JudyKayTee]

I agree - when I said the estate remains "open" I should have said "unsettled" - nothing is filed or it's filed and sits or something in between (in my State). "Here" someone approaches the Court and the Surrogate Judge appoints an Executor, often an Attorney.

I found the probate system to be, at best, cumbersome (unnecessarily so), required an Attorney, was quite costly - everything I didn't need at that point in my life.

[joypulv]

I know people who were told they had a second chance on a house they had been outbid on. Turns out probate had not been done after hubby died, and wife lived on for years and then died, happens all the time. Their lawyer said 'give me $300 for the judge (this was about 25 years ago in MA) and I'll get it done in 2 weeks.'
Nice house, nice suburb, nice everybody, no sleazy characters involved.
Tell me this doesn't happen everywhere.

[AK lawyer]

... no sleazy characters involved.
...

-Except for the judge, evidently. :(

...
Tell me this doesn't happen everywhere.

I wouldn't know, so I can't tell you that.