Selling Your Inherited Property Through Probate

When someone who owns a house dies and their name is on the title of the property, there is now a need to transfer ownership and title to a new owner. Probate is the court process of transferring the title from a deceased to a new owner. If the family or heir of the deceased want to hold on to the property they may not need to sell the house, but will still have to transfer the title into the new owner’s name through probate.
A probate sale in real estate occurs when a home is sold during an active, ongoing probate proceeding. You can sell the home during probate even when a person dies intestate or without a will. Someone will have to petition the court to act as personal representative. The estate’s personal representative or executor will take over this responsibility to handle the sale of the property.
The process of selling real estate through probate consists of a series of court-regulated steps that must be followed throughout the probate sale transaction process. Specific steps regarding how real estate in probate is marketed, offers are accepted, and negotiations of the sale of the property, must be followed according to the strict court guidelines.
It cannot be over emphasized, do not just get an attorney because that person practices law. Get an experienced probate attorney, well versed in probate practice. They will help you avoid many unpleasant steps, as it all depends on what personal representative powers were requested in the probate petition and if those requested powers were granted by the court.

The typical middle class family in America today is house rich and cash poor. These families have their largest assets in real estate, which is the house they had bought and lived in. Often this real property may be required to be sold by the executor or administrator during a probate proceedings.
When a person dies with real property in his/her name, there are ongoing expenses such as the mortgage payment, homeowner insurance and real property taxes. Often because there is not enough income elsewhere in the estate to pay these expenses, selling the house becomes the common choice.
If the real property has a reverse mortgage, it may be important to immediately put the property on the market to avoid foreclosure. Alternatively, excessive outstanding indebtedness of the decedent might force the selling of the real property during probate to satisfy these obligations.
Once the property is sold, the remaining net proceeds can be deposited into an estate bank account for later distribution to the beneficiaries.
Even if you are appointed in a will by the deceased, you can not take any action, including selling of real estate, until you have authority from the California probate court. You cannot legally take any action with the property or any part of the estate until you appear in probate court and receive your appointment from a judge to administer the estate.

The Process of Selling Real Property in Probate
At that point you’ll be legally able to sign a listing agreement with an agent and start marketing the property. Otherwise you are limited to only actions such as bringing in the mail, securing the property to prevent squatters from moving in, or mowing the lawn, but you can’t start sorting heirlooms or hiring contractors for repairs at this stage in the game.





Because California probate is a bit complex, you may not want to go through the probate process by yourself. You want to make sure you select an experienced probate attorney. Avoid the mistake of Hiring inexperienced professionals to represent you during the probate process. Be sure to ask your attorney candidates about how many cases they’ve handled and how long they’ve practiced probate law.
You’ll need your attorney to help you gather up all of the required documentation, such as the death certificate, original will, and your state’s probate petition forms

Limited versus Full Authority
It is very important that you try to get “full” authority under the California Independent Administration of Estates Act (IAEA). Full IAEA will allow you to sell without formal court confirmation as long as nobody objects to the sale.
In California You can either get full authority or limited authority, I have helped families sell their real estate with limited authority or court supervision this limits your choice and slows down the process. It even limits the pool of buyers who will participate in the sale. Get an experienced probate attorney who can fight to ensure you get full authority to market the property.

The complex requirements of court approval to sell real property during probate can often be eliminated with proper preparation of the initiating probate petition.

Limited Authority with Court supervision
If the personal representative has not been granted the ability to exercise independent powers during the probate process or the heirs are uncooperative, selling real property during probate can become a more challenging task.
The court is there to protect the interest of the estate, therefore requires that the estate’s personal representative sell the property at the best price. In a probate sale of real estate, the personal representative will need to hire a real estate agent, sign a listing agreement, and show the property to interested buyers. An interested buyer must accompany their written offer with a ten percent deposit. The estate representative can accept or reject the offer. Upon the estate representative’s acceptance of the offer, the court will have to confirm it. The estate representative will have to petition the court to affirm the sale.

At the probate hearing to affirm sale, the court will set a second court hearing for the sale to be confirmed in court. Once the court sets the sale date, the property will still remain on the market at the new buyer’s offered price for between 30 to 45 days. At the conclusion of this period, the buyer will need to petition the probate court to confirm the sale price. The court will sell the property “auction style” with the opening bid being the accepted offer price plus the prescribed increase made previously by the court. The house will be sold to the highest bidder.
The bidder will be required to make a deposit on the home and will be allowed the opportunity to have the home inspected.


In addition to an attorney, Get a real estate agent who’s an expert in your local probate rules and procedures. Work with Realtors experienced in selling probate real estate.
Your Realtor should help you get the house ready for sale just like any other sale. This may involve conducting comparative market analysis, property valuation, getting rid of personal belongings, cleaning out, advising in staging, making necessary repairs or advice to sell “As-Is’ and bring in ready investors or owner occupied buyers depending on your estate needs.

Questions you may want to ask when selecting real estate agents with probate experience could be the following;
1. How many probate transactions have you handled?
2. What’s the difference between probate and traditional real estate sales?
3. Are you certified or educated in probate?
“A good real estate agent selling probate needs to be able to conduct themselves in a manner that is sensitive and respectful to the family, but with the ultimate goal of getting the property sold in the most cost-effective way,
Your realtor should know how to complete the Purchase Agreement forms correctly and apply the required disclosures and exemptions. The disclosures are more limited in a probate sale than a regular sale so talk to your Realtor about those forms.
Leaving the house vacant for an extended period
Sometimes disagreements among heirs can delay a probate sale, resulting in the property remaining vacant for a long time.
i) This can create a number of issues—houses deteriorate quickly when vacant and unused, and may become costly to make it habitable again.
ii) If the lawn starts to look shabby and overgrown, that could result in a fine by the city for a code violation.
iii) That’s not to mention insurance companies don’t like to cover empty houses. If a house sits empty for more than 60 days, this may render the existing policy invalid. You may want to contact the insurer to secure vacant home insurance coverage.
Don’t let home maintenance slide if no one will be living there in the interim, and be sure to maintain the homeowners insurance policy on the decedent’s house until ownership is officially transferred to the new buyer of the home.
Squatters could move in and this might be a challenge to get them out according to California’s Law.