Anyone out there who has found a way to collect taxes from every heir to a tract?  Since there is only one tax ticket for the tract and many heirs, is there a way to get everyone to pay.  This is a real problem and to have your share put in your name, takes a lot of time and attorney fees.  Contacting an heir you may not know and asking them to pay their share of taxes sounds good until they ignore you.  They didn't shy away when the company paid them money to sign though.

The courthouse will not dig into the books and separate the interests and send out each heir a tax ticket.  They only go on the name on the ticket.  Most cases that is a grandpa or grandma and the interests were not put in each siblings name when they passed away.  When this happens, it's like a family tree and the interests splits and more people own a piece. When it comes time to pay taxes whomever has the ticket has to make sure the taxes are paid or they go delinquent.

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That sounds like a big problem, D L T. Also not fair. Too bad the WV laws don't make it easier to get these things taken care of. I hope somebody has some good suggestions.

DLT,

You have a few options.  You can sue the county and specifically the sheriff to have the parcel divided properly.  Obviously I do not know which county you are referring to, but suspect I can guess.

Lastly, you can sue each heir and either have the title split in that fashion or file suit for failure to pay taxes.

We are talking about mineral property taxes in Ritchie Co. Wv. Mineral property and surface property are both taxed.

I would think it would be difficult to sue an heir if the tax ticket was not in their name.  One would think they would have to have their share in their name to be responsible.  If that was to happen then the county would collect the taxes because they would have a tax ticket in each heirs name.

The county could care less who pays the taxes.and they seem to not care about getting the records straight either.  I know there are tons of folks out there paying every ones taxes because the county will not separate the tax tickets for each heirs share.  If the county will not get the tax mess straightened out a lot of people will be forced to pay a lot of money to get it done through attorneys.  One clerk even told me that most attorneys do not want to or refuse to because of all the time involved.

DLT,

If you ever need the name of a good attorney in Ritchie County, just ask.  What is a real mess is if you fail to pay the property taxes and it goes to auction.  Every parcel owner would lose their ownership.

WV. M.O.

Very true (Ask Nancy).  She saved us this past year.  I asked Ritchie to send an in C/O change for 2 tax tickets that were in a cousins hands who was not an heir.  Instead of sending a real tax ticket they sent a print out copy with no due date and such.  Nancy saw it in the Ritchie paper where the taxes did not get paid.  Had to go out there and pay the taxes plus 40 bucks for putting them in the paper.  I would think all the heirs involved would be in touch every year with the tax ticket holders.  I guess they don't realize how easy it is to lose their mineral interest.

Let me know if you need a contact at the tax office, I know the ladies fairly well and have a good working relationship with them.

Of course I would never say it publically or to Nancy, but she is pretty wonderful and always extremely helpful, but keep it a secret.  I would hate for her to get an ego or a swelled head.  Suffice to say, she has saved my bacon on more than one occasion!!!

Yes,  Nancy is the best records research girl and friend too.  Hope she makes it back to Wv. so we can have lunch again. 

I think the girls in the courthouse have their hands tied to what could be done.  They have made a lot of money in that courthouse from oil/gas and you would think they could get all their records up and current.

Laughing...

The ladies in the courthouse cringe when I walk in the door.  For what they have to deal with, they do a good job.

Haha! Thanks guys! I've had to learn a lot of things the hard way, and want to help people avoid any more messes than necessary. Some things are just unavoidable trouble. Taxes are never welcome, and trouble with them is double bad!

DLT,

    You own a portion of the minerals on a parcel from what I read.

The minerals I share in WV on a parcel has a deed for each owner. I get taxed on my share of the minerals only. Can you have a Deed drawn up showing you percentage of ownership of the parcel?

Once you do this, the County will have to go after all other owners.

Your portion of the parcels minerals won't be sold at sheriffs sale if you pay for your percent of minerals owned.

Ron

If only we had a deed for each owner I would be so happy.  The grandparents and then the siblings never had the shares separated.  It is a process to get them put in each persons name.

Here's a dirty trick that others in this situation have done.

They pay the taxes then use a lawyer to remove all other heirs from the property. I can ask my cousin how she accomplished this on some land my Great Grandfather shared the minerals on.

Ask a lawyer, my cousin probably thinks I don't know what she did and wouldn't tell me anything if I asked since her mother kept this property secret from her brother who was my Dad.

Be careful when & if you find wealth, greed is an ugly thing, it's a hunger that can never be satisfied. Observed Fact.

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