Probate & trust home sales

Selling an Inherited Home in Probate or Trust

When a parent or spouse passes away, someone has to deal with the house. If that is you, executor, successor trustee, or one of several siblings, we walk you through every step at whatever pace your family needs.

Two adult siblings standing quietly in the doorway of a parent's living room

Grief and a House Full of Memories

"Selling our dad's home of 40 years was not easy." A client wrote those words to us, and nearly every family we help in this situation feels the same. The recliner is still where it always was. The garden still needs watering. And somewhere between the phone calls, the paperwork, and the grief, someone has to figure out what happens to the house.

Maybe you're the executor or the successor trustee. Maybe you're one of several siblings trying to keep everyone on the same page. Maybe you live out of state and can't be here every weekend. Whatever your role, you shouldn't have to become a real estate project manager during the hardest season of your life.

We move at a pace that respects your family. Compassion comes first, and the logistics follow. That said, pace is your call, not ours. Some families need the house sold quickly because there's a mortgage, property taxes, and insurance still coming due every month, or because everyone agrees it's time. Others need weeks before anyone can walk through the front door. We ask about your situation first, the timeline, the money, and where each person in the family is, and then we build the plan around that answer. Fast when fast is right. Slow when slow is right. Never the other way around.

What is it actually worth?

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Or read how we do it, step by step

One Question Decides Everything Else

When a family calls us about a home after someone has passed, the first thing we ask is not about the house. It is whether the property was held in a trust.

If it was, the successor trustee can usually sell without the court involved at all. No hearing, no confirmation, no overbidding. It looks and moves like an ordinary sale.

If it was not, the estate goes through probate, and then one more question sets your entire calendar: what authority did the court grant the executor under the Independent Administration of Estates Act?

Families often assume the home was in the trust because the trust exists. Sometimes the deed was never actually transferred into it. Your estate attorney can confirm that in one look, and it is worth asking before anything else.

Full Authority: About 30 to 45 Days

With full authority, no court confirmation is required. The executor sends a Notice of Proposed Action, interested parties have 15 days to object, and if nobody does, escrow closes.

In practice these run about 30 to 45 days, close to a standard sale. There is no 90 percent price floor and no hearing where your buyer can be outbid. If this is your situation, the process will feel far more normal than you were bracing for.

Limited Authority: Add Three to Six Months

With limited authority the court has to confirm the sale, and that commonly adds three to six months. Several things change at once:

The price generally has to come in at a minimum of 90 percent of the probate referee appraised value.
The sale is published in a newspaper at least three times over at least ten days beforehand.
The confirmation hearing is usually set 30 to 45 days after the petition is filed.
At that hearing, other buyers can bid against your accepted offer.

None of that is a problem. It is routine. But your buyer needs to understand going in that they can be outbid in the room, and a buyer who finds that out late walks away.

How Overbidding Actually Works

This is the part nobody explains, and it is the part that scares buyers off.

The first overbid is typically the accepted price, plus 10 percent of the first $10,000, plus 5 percent of the balance. On a $700,000 accepted offer, the first competing bid has to come in around $735,500.

That threshold protects the estate. It also means a buyer who fell in love with the house can lose it at a hearing after weeks of waiting. We tell buyers this before they write, not after, which is why our probate offers tend to hold together.

What You Can Do While You Wait

Starting early is often the single best thing a family can do, and almost nobody realizes how much is allowed before the legal side finishes.

Clearing out belongings, cleaning, landscaping, gathering paperwork, all of it can happen in parallel. What has to wait is signing a listing agreement or a contract, because someone must hold legal authority first.

One caution: do not throw out or give away contents until the attorney says it is cleared. Personal property can be part of the estate, and that mistake is not reversible.

Tell us where the case stands and we will sequence the prep so that the day authority comes through, you are ready to go on market instead of starting from zero.

What You Can Do While You Wait

The waiting does not have to be wasted

The Belongings, the Garden, and a House Sitting Empty

There's no need to rush through a lifetime of things. Give family members time to choose keepsakes first. Then, when you're ready, we coordinate the people who handle the rest:

Estate sale companies for furniture, collections, and valuables
Clean-out crews, including teams experienced with homes that have become very full over the years, who work with discretion and respect
Gardeners to keep the yard looking cared for
Handymen for small repairs and touch-ups
Movers for anything headed to family

A vacant home also needs attention. Keep utilities on for showings and inspections, check the mail, and call the insurance company, since coverage on an unoccupied home can differ from a regular policy.

Sell It As-Is, or Put Some Work In First?

When emotions are high, a quick cash offer can feel like relief. Sometimes it's the right answer. Other times, a family leaves real money behind because nobody compared the options side by side.

We'll show you both paths honestly: what the home would likely sell for as-is, and what it could sell for after targeted work like paint, flooring, or fixing items that could keep a buyer from getting a loan. Then we'll estimate what each choice leaves the estate after costs.

We've seen modest, well-chosen repairs make a meaningful difference for families. We've also recommended selling as-is when the numbers or the family's energy said so. The decision is yours, and you'll make it with clear numbers.

Everything takes about as long as it takes

Helping the Home Be Seen at Its Best

An empty house can feel cold in photos. We can bring in a stager for the kitchen, bathrooms, and living spaces, so buyers can picture a life there. Then the home gets professional photography, video, and a planned launch, the same care we give every listing. Learn more about how we sell a home.

When offers come in, we present each one clearly and fairly, side by side, so everyone deciding can weigh price, terms, and timing together.

Before any buyer walks through, we make sure personal papers, medications, and valuables have been removed or locked away.

When Siblings or Co-Trustees See It Differently

Grief can make even close families disagree about timing, price, or repairs. We keep everyone who needs to be informed on the same updates at the same time, and we confirm decisions in writing so nobody feels left out. When there's a real disagreement, we lay out the market facts and let the family and their attorney decide. Our role is to keep the sale steady, not to take sides.

For families spread across several states, a short scheduled call each week can keep everyone informed without dozens of separate conversations.

The Tax Part Families Get Wrong

Most families brace for a tax bill that never comes.

When you inherit a home, the cost basis generally resets to the market value on the date the owner passed. That is called a stepped-up basis, and it means decades of appreciation your parent earned are not taxed to you.

If your parent bought in 1985 for $95,000 and the home is worth $760,000 the day they pass, you are generally taxed only on what it gains after that date. Sell within a few months and the taxable gain is often close to zero.

That is also why a dated valuation matters, and we can provide one for the date of death. Confirm the numbers with the estate CPA before you sign anything. We are not tax advisors, but we can make sure they have what they need.

How We Work With Your Attorney

This is work Michelle has done for families across Los Angeles County since 2004, and it is why she went and got certified in it rather than learning on somebody's estate.

We coordinate directly with the attorney handling the case so the listing, the offer, the disclosures and the closing all line up with where the legal case actually is. We confirm what authority was granted before we set a timeline, we get the Notice of Proposed Action or the confirmation hearing on the calendar, and we make sure whoever signs has the authority to sign.

If your family does not have an estate attorney yet, we can point you to several we have worked with. We do not give legal advice. We make sure the real estate side never gets ahead of the legal side.

One family wrote that we never left their side and updated them every step, which let them step away peacefully from the sale. If you live out of the area, we can be your eyes and hands here.

See where we work across the Santa Clarita Valley and Los Angeles County.

When You Are Ready, Not Before

Most people call us too late, not too early. They wait until the house is empty and the estate is pressing, and by then the choices have narrowed. There is no cost and nothing to sign in a first conversation, and plenty of them end with us saying wait a few months.

You do not need the case settled to call. You do not need the house cleared out, and you do not need to know what the family wants to do. Those are the things we help you sort through, not prerequisites for asking.

Call or text Michelle directly at 661-219-5517. She answers her own phone, not an assistant and not a call center, and she will tell you honestly whether this is something you need an agent for yet.

If it is easier to write it down, especially if you are coordinating with siblings in other states, send us a message and she will come back to you, usually the same day.

When You Are Ready, Not Before

There is no clock on this

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to go through probate to sell my parent's house?

Not always. If the home was held in a living trust, the successor trustee can often sell without court involvement. If not, probate may be required. Your estate or probate attorney can confirm what applies to your family.

How long does a probate sale take in California?

It turns on one thing: the authority the court gave the executor under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. With full authority there is no court confirmation. The executor sends a Notice of Proposed Action, interested parties have 15 days to object, and if nobody does, escrow closes. Those run about 30 to 45 days, basically a normal sale. With limited authority the court has to confirm the sale, which commonly adds 3 to 6 months. The price generally has to hit at least 90 percent of the probate referee appraisal, the sale gets published in a newspaper at least three times over at least ten days, and the confirmation hearing is usually set 30 to 45 days after the petition is filed. Ask the attorney which authority was granted, because that answer sets your whole calendar, and then we plan around it.

Can the house be sold before probate is finished?

Often yes. A home in a trust can usually be sold by the successor trustee without waiting on anything. In probate, the home can be listed and marketed once the court has appointed the personal representative, which is what the Letters document establishes, and you do not have to wait for the entire probate case to close. With full authority you can go all the way to closing after the 15 day Notice of Proposed Action period. With limited authority you can list and accept an offer, but the closing waits on the confirmation hearing. What you generally cannot do is list before anyone has legal authority to sign. Get the attorney to confirm where the case stands and we will start the prep work in parallel.

What is court confirmation?

It is a hearing where a judge approves the sale, and it only applies when the executor has limited authority rather than full authority. Two things make it different from a normal sale. First, the price generally has to come in at a minimum of 90 percent of the probate referee appraised value. Second, other buyers can show up at the hearing and bid against your accepted offer. The first overbid is typically the accepted price plus 10 percent of the first $10,000 plus 5 percent of the balance, so on a $700,000 accepted offer the first overbid lands around $735,500. The sale is also published in a newspaper beforehand. It sounds alarming and it is routine, but it does mean your buyer needs to understand going in that they can be outbid in the room.

Should we sell the house as-is or fix it up first?

This can go two ways, and the answer usually turns on cash and time rather than taste. Selling as-is is right when you do not have the money or the bandwidth to manage work, when the home needs more than cosmetics, or when the sale is on a deadline like a probate or a divorce. You will price for condition and you will draw more investor interest, and that is a legitimate outcome, not a failure. Doing targeted work is right when the issues are cosmetic and the return is predictable. The work that reliably pays: paint, flooring, landscaping and cleanup, lighting, and anything that reads as deferred maintenance from the street. The work that usually does not pay right before a sale: kitchen and bath remodels, additions, and anything where you will not recover the cost. What we do not recommend is the middle, spending real money on the wrong things. Let us walk the house with you and give you a prioritized list with a rough cost and what each item is likely to return, then you decide with numbers instead of guesses.

Will we owe taxes on the increase in value since our parent bought the home?

Usually far less than families expect, and sometimes nothing. When you inherit a home, your cost basis generally resets to the market value on the date the owner passed. That is called a stepped-up basis, and it means decades of appreciation your parent earned are not taxed to you. If your parent bought in 1985 for $95,000 and the home is worth $760,000 the day they pass, you are generally taxed only on what it gains after that date. Sell within a few months of the date of death and the taxable gain is often close to zero. That is also why a dated valuation matters, and we can provide one. Confirm the numbers with the estate CPA before you sign anything.

Can one of us keep the home and the low property taxes?

California's rules on transferring a parent's property tax base to children changed in recent years and now come with conditions. Talk with a CPA or estate attorney before deciding.

What do we do with everything inside the house?

Let family choose keepsakes first. After that, we coordinate estate sale companies, donation services, clean-out crews, and movers, so you don't have to find and manage them yourself.

We live out of state. Can you still help?

Yes. Many of the families we help live elsewhere. We coordinate vendors, check on the property, and keep you updated with photos and calls, and much of the paperwork can be signed electronically.

What if my siblings and I don't agree on selling?

We share the same information with everyone involved, confirm decisions in writing, and present the market facts clearly. If there's a legal dispute about authority or the sale, the estate's attorney should guide the next step.

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Michelle and Jon Dubner, REALTORS with Equity Union in the Santa Clarita Valley

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You would be working with our team

We are Michelle and Jon Dubner, husband and wife, and Dubner Real Estate Group is ours. Our team is here to serve you: to understand what you are hoping for, walk you through it step by step, and make sure you get there. Michelle answers her own phone and is quickest by text, so ask us anything, at any point, however small it feels.

Michelle Dubner DRE #01496647 Jon Dubner DRE #02118617 Equity Union

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