Sale of a house under probate
Death in the family is a depressing time. Even though the family members are going through mourning and need to take care of judicial matters, the properties left behind by the deceased need to be fairly distributed amongst the legal heirs; this needs probate from the probate court, even if a will is there.
Probate sale is complex.
It can cause a lot of additional stress on the family when deciding to sell the home, only after the probate comes through. A house needs to be maintained, and bills need to be paid even if the house is vacant. The legal fees for the probate and other taxes keep adding up. The will’s executors are usually eager to settle the estate plan as soon as possible, and it is not a simple process.
Risks associated with this kind of sale
There are certain risks involved with a house being sold before probate.
- The legal heirs may come with a will to the courts for probate, and while the grant is under process, the sale goes through. But later on, it emerges that the will was obsolete, and the real legal heirs are different.
- The will of the deceased person may mention a beneficiary, and the probate process may be on. Still, a legal contract or more liabilities come to light later then again; it may lead to complex court visits.
- A law or right takes precedence over the will. The court order may change the decision of granting the right to the property to an heir, and thereby the sale and contract will be termed illegal.
- There may be more legal heirs than the spouse. All of them may not be on the same page about the estate sale.
- The person trying to sell the house in a hurry actually has no right to sign the deal.
The house can be sold while the probate process is on.
- The house under a probate process can be sold if the seller is genuine, and reasons to do the same.
- The probate may take longer in some cases, especially if the will is being challenged. Then the buyers try to reduce the price.
- The market rate may also fluctuate, making it a losing proposition to sell a house once the probate is granted.
- They may be living in another city, and it is difficult to maintain two houses and pay the bills.
- A secondary or primary house may also lead to different tax levels and may force the inheritors to sell the house.
Estate lawyers may decide to sell the house and distribute the money to the legal heirs. This can become easy if an expert probate attorney is in charge of the sale. This may also be important if the taxes and liabilities are piling up and the inheritors are keen to sell the house as soon as possible.
Once you decide to sell a house without waiting for the probate to come through, you can list an estate home if the land titles are in order. The death certificate can be filed in the court with a request for early probate. You can file a petition in the court to sell the inherited house before probate. Offers start coming in once the house is listed for sale.
Selling a house before the grant of probate is not very complex if you take experts’ help. The process may help the inheritors pay off the debts and liabilities and the probate’s cost once it comes through. An early sale also helps to save the costs of the bills and accruing on a vacant property. The convenience of an early sale far outweighs the costs associated with it.
Avoid probate and sell the house if you are keen. You can check out the other probate sales done by us in the past. We have been in this business for umpteen years. We have the right expertise to help you sell an inherited house as soon as you want it. We help by paying cash immediately and take over the liabilities. The paperwork becomes a breeze with our team to help you. You can also expect to complete the process under complete compliance with laws and regulations. Contact us using the number given here or send us an email.