My dad died somewhat unexpectedly a couple of months ago and I am trying to help my mom pick up the pieces. He was in poor health for a long time, but he actually died from a fall, so no one was really prepared.
For a long time, he had taken responsibility for all of their financial decisions and really left my mom out of it. In recent years he acquainted me with some of their assets and I was put on the bank account.
Yesterday Mom and I met with their attorney to discuss having their trust redrawn with me as co-trustee. The attorney asked whether there was any real estate in their possession besides their residence.
Now, some decades ago (70s or 80s) they had bought some undeveloped land in Arkansas, with the idea that they might retire there. Circumstances brought my dad out to CA, and they ended up retiring here instead. I thought that the land in AK was sold, but my mom has no recollection of that.
I’ve done some searching through their papers and found the relevant stuff for their home and for some time shares they own, but nothing about any property in AK. So, my question is, is there anyway I could look it up, with no other information to go on other than that, at one time, they owned some property in AK?
Yes, I think tax records are going to be the best bet. I have their tax stuff from last year, but I haven’t looked at it closely yet. It’s going to be a challenge for me. I’ve never owned property or filed anything but the basic tax form. My dad had a complicated stock portfolio, multiple retirement savings accounts, and was the type who got itemized receipts for donations of old clothes to Goodwill.
I don’t know anything about the property other than that it was in AK. They bought it after I moved out of the the house. I’m betting that it was sold long ago and my mom just isn’t remembering. She is starting to have some cognitive issues.
This is where I would start. You may have to poke around in the county web site and tax records and maps to find what you are looking for though.
If you know the address of a property you can usually use these sites to find out who the current owner is. If all you have is a person’s name you can use that to search and find any property in the county that they own. Business’ can use these on-line records to locate the property of people that owe them money in order to place a lien on the place and recover debts.
Banks also use this information when you apply for a mortgage so they can have a starting point of the value even before you leave the office.
Owner’s name, map of property lines, taxes owed, date structures are built, etc. it is all there if you find the right place to look.
Thanks, sounds like there are a few different ways in. I’m sure I will find some reference to the property as we continue to dig through Dad’s records.
I will also be sure to begin any necessary searches in Arkansas, rather than Alaska.
To look for a piece of land that your father may own, or have owned somewhere in a state, looks like an impossible task to me. You would be better employed sorting paperwork, in the hope that you might find some useful information to narrow the search down.
A great resource I’ve found is the Zillow real estate site, which provides most or all of the same information as the assessor databases, which in some counties are not available on their own websites. The property in question doesn’t necessarily have to be up for sale; just go ahead and type in the address, and you’ll see whatever Zillow has on it.
There’s also Google Earth Pro, which may still be free to download.
Excellent suggestion. If only the OP had the address.
All he knows is “My Dad (& Mom) once owned some property someplace in Arkansas. The only fact I’m sure of is their name(s) and the dates within a decade or two. All else is guesswork. Help me find the parcel and find out who owns it now.”
Might be easier to scan thru their check registers, looking for a check written to X County. The property taxes were probably paid by check, and many older people were quite meticulous about recording these in the check register.
Because I don’t know where it would appear in their Tax records. If it was undeveloped land, they probably had no income from it, and so it might not be mentioned in their Income tax records at all.
I’d say to spend an afternoon and go onto all 75 Arkansas county treasurer or assessor websites (easily found via google) and try to search for a tax record under his name. Even easier since many Arkansas counties use arcountydata.net and let you use their site for free for basic searches.
You could also contact an Arkansas real estate agent and see if they may be able to help. When I was in real estate, we had access to all the state property records at once. A search of your father’s name should bring it up.
