If someone inherits a percentage of a property that is still in probate can they go look and walk the property or must they get permission f...

Question

If someone inherits a percentage of a property that is still in probate can they go look and walk the property or must they get permission from the executor?

Answer

Is the property in North Carolina?

Assuming that the estate and property are in North Carolina, any title to real property vests in the beneficiaries as of the moment of death of the testator. That means that the beneficiaries are the owners of the property.

However, there are some limitations on that ownership. The beneficiaries cannot sell the property within 2 years of the testator's death unless the personal representative is included. Also, the personal representative has some authority and can sell the land if it is needed to pay estate debts. The will may also give the personal representative some authority to act.

With all of these considerations in mind, the beneficiary and personal representative ideally need to cooperate here. The personal representative has to inventory property and he/she may not want some beneficiary coming on to the property and taking stuff which may or may belong to the beneficiary.

I think that there should be a degree of common sense here (although sense of any sort seems to be less and less common these days). Although the beneficiary can go onto the property and technically not be trespassing, if there is security, then contact with the personal representative may be essential. Even if there is no security, a nosy neighbor could see a car parked there and think you are a trespasser and call the police. So I think the better approach would be to contact the personal representative and perhaps arrange a convenient time for all the beneficiaries to inspect the property.

Also, the beneficiary in your post only has a percentage of ownership. What percentage might that be? 5% or 50%? Why does the beneficiary feel a need to walk around the property? If the beneficiary's interest in the property is small, I suggest that the other owners buy out the lesser share. Having 2 or more people own land when those people are not married is a recipe for disaster unless the property owners can all agree on everything as to what is to be done with the property (for example, someone may want to lease it out or sell the timber and another may not - what about taxes, insurance, repair or upkeep?). However, if the beneficiary has a more substantial share and an interest in owning the land, maybe the beneficiary would consider buying out the shares of other owners.