If someone dies with no legal heirs or relatives and leaves no valid will, what happens to real property?

If someone dies with no legal heirs or relatives and leaves no valid will, what happens to real property?

• A. It is taken by the state according to escheat
• B. It is reconveyed to the previous owner in the chain of title
• C. It is taken by the title insurance company according to involuntary alienation
• D. It is conveyed to the highest bidder at a public auction

Answer: (A)

When someone dies without legal heirs and without a valid will, real property escheats to the state. Escheat is the government’s process for taking ownership of property to prevent it from being ownerless. The state then holds the title and may dispose of the property under its own procedures; there’s no private heir to inherit it. The other options don’t fit because there’s no surviving owner to reconvey to, title insurers don’t take ownership, and ownership isn’t automatically transferred to a bidder—the state first claims it through escheat and may sell it later under appropriate laws.

When someone dies without legal heirs and without a valid will, real property escheats to the state. Escheat is the government’s process for taking ownership of property to prevent it from being ownerless. The state then holds the title and may dispose of the property under its own procedures; there’s no private heir to inherit it. The other options don’t fit because there’s no surviving owner to reconvey to, title insurers don’t take ownership, and ownership isn’t automatically transferred to a bidder—the state first claims it through escheat and may sell it later under appropriate laws.