When land is leased for a townsite (99 years), What happens to it when
the 99 years are past? The town is now unincorporated. Do decendents
have any claim?

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 24 Jul 2004 11:54 PDT

maarylou --

In what state, province or country are you located?

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by maarylou-ga on 24 Jul 2004 13:53 PDT

We are in southwest Missouri, Barry county, The town is Ridgely. The
claim I was referring to is to any property that was never used for
anything, or has no deed to it, no one pays taxes on it. I believe the
lease expires 2006. My M-I-L
knows for sure, she was born 1905. The town was laid out for a RR stop
and water tank.

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Clarification of Question by maarylou-ga on 24 Jul 2004 13:54 PDT

We are in southwest Missouri, Barry county, The town is Ridgely. The
claim I was referring to is to any property that was never used for
anything, or has no deed to it, no one pays taxes on it. I believe the
lease expires 2006. My M-I-L
knows for sure, she was born 1905. The town was laid out for a RR stop
and water tank. The town is now unincorporated.

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Clarification of Question by maarylou-ga on 28 Jul 2004 19:30 PDT

I don't mean to be asking legal advice I just need to know what is usually done.

Very long term leases have become rare in recent decades. If the
original document offers no details, I should think any decendent
could negociate a lease extention for a modest amount of money. The
extention could be contested if another decendent shows up later, so
you could end up paying the second decendent also, which is likely
better than getting lawyers envolved who will likely collect bigger
fees than the decendents. Worse the lawyers (boo-hiss) may not resolve
anything even though you paid them big fees. Is the lease with an
American Indian? What is the location?   Neil

For every lease there is a lessor -- the person, company, or other
party which owned the leased property, and entered into the lease with
the lessee.  At the end of the term of the lease -- in your question,
99 years -- the lease expires, and full control of the property -- the
right to use it, the right to lease it again, the right to borrow
using it as security (i.e., the right to get a mortgage), the right to
sell it -- devolves upon (= falls to) the descendants of the lessor. 
So the descendants of the owner who made the lease inherit the
property, unless that owner or an earlier descendant left the property
to someonw else by will.