Uncle died many years ago leaving only my aunt. He had no will. they had no children and the only property was the house and a car. A succes...

Question

Uncle died many years ago leaving only my aunt. He had no will. they had no children and the only property was the house and a car. A succession was never opened. Recently my aunt died. She has a will which leaves the house and other household furniture etc to several relatives. The problem we have is that since there was never a succession for my uncle, how is my aunt even in possession of the house to pass on to the relatives. I would think we have to open a succession for my uncle to place my aunt into possession, but she is now deceased. How does this work? What needs to be filed? Everyone wants the property distributed, but how?? Thanks

Answer

That situation is not that uncommon, actually. You are correct that your uncle's succession needs to be opened as well as your aunt's. You can file them both at the same time, though, and can even open them both in the same petition. The cost would be a little more than doing just the one succession, but not significantly more. Any lawyer who handles a lot of successions (like me) would know what to do.