Note: BCP Real Estate is not a law firm and its employees/owners are not acting as your attorneys. The information contained on this website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
If you’ve been pulled into a tax lawsuit over a family property in Bexar County, the questions piling up are understandable. Most people in this spot didn’t realize they had any ownership at all.
For a lot of folks, the first they hear of it is a constable or sheriff’s deputy at the door with a citation and an Original Petition. Being served face to face is unnerving, and people often assume they’re in some kind of serious trouble. In these cases it’s usually the ordinary way a delinquent property tax matter starts. It’s a civil matter about unpaid taxes, not a criminal charge, and it’s not a scam.
Here’s the usual backstory. When an owner passes away without probate, their share generally passes to the next of kin under Texas intestacy laws, while the county still has the original owner on the deed. After the taxes go unpaid long enough, the suit is filed and the county researches the family tree, naming the living heirs.
In Bexar County, the taxes are handled through the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector (Vista Verde Plaza Building, 233 N. Pecos La Trinidad, San Antonio, TX 78207; 210-335-2251), values are set by the Bexar Appraisal District, and the lawsuit is on record with the Bexar County District Clerk. All of it is public and can be verified on your end first.
From there, the common paths are resolving it with an attorney, looking into a payment arrangement, or selling your portion, which removes you from the lawsuit without needing the rest of the family to agree.
A couple of questions we hear a lot in Bexar County:
The property came from my grandparents and there are a lot of us now. Does that matter? It’s very common. When property passes down across a couple of generations without probate, the number of heirs can grow large. Each heir can still sell their own individual share.
There’s a name on the lawsuit I’ve never heard of. Who is that? Often it’s a relative from another branch of the family that the county identified through the family tree. It doesn’t have to stop you from selling your own portion.
If you’re looking to remove yourself from a lawsuit and get paid for your interest, no cost to you, call or text us at (469) 708-8003 for an offer today.
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