Dealing with the death of a parent or other close relative is never easy. What makes things worse is that while dealing with your grief and loss, you also have to deal with a whole bunch of admin, including selling their former home.
We understand that this is a heart-breaking time and you’ll probably struggle to focus on all the things that you need to do. That’s why we’ve created an easy to follow, step-by-step guide to walk you through it all and make sure you don’t miss anything.
Table of Contents
Selling a probate house is a little more complicated than selling your own house, and there are a number of important things that you need to consider along the way. There are also significant legal obligations that you need to be aware of in order to make sure that everyone gets what’s due to them, including the taxman.
In this article, we’ll give you an overview of how to sell an inherited property, including:
- The probate process
- Your obligations while selling a probate house
- Your options for selling a probate house
- The tax implications when selling a probate house
- How the Property Sale Watchdog can help
You can find out more details, if you need them, in the companion articles mentioned in each section. You’ll also find details in the ‘What to do when someone dies’ section of the Government website.
Your next step
Many people who have lost a loved one naturally want to get the admin completed as soon as they can, rather than drag the process out for months or even years.
The quickest and easiest way of selling an inherited property is to sell to a fast cash buyer.
They will buy the property as it stands, with no heart-breaking viewings or house clearances to go through. What’s more, you’ll have access to your inheritance the day that probate is granted, so there’s no waiting around.
To see how much you could get by selling a probate property to a cash buyer, simply click the cash offer calculator button below. There’s no obligation, but it will give you a figure to put to other beneficiaries as an option.
If think you can all work with that price, we’ll connect you directly to the first-class services of a fully vetted home buyer we know you can trust.
The probate process
Selling an inherited property might seem a huge responsibility, but it’s easier than you think. Below, we’ve broken probate down into a few straightforward steps to help you navigate the process:
Step one – establish ownership
The first step in selling a probate house is to establish the ownership of the property. This may be one of three possibilities:
- Owned outright – If the property is owned by a single person, or the remaining half of a marriage or civil partnership, then it becomes part of that person’s estate when they die.
- Joint ownership – Most married couples are joint owners of their home, and it automatically passes to the remaining spouse or civil partner if one of them dies.
- Tenants in common – If the property was owned as tenants in common, then the share owned by the deceased becomes part of their estate, even if they are survived by their partner.
What you need to do: Establish ownership by looking at the deeds or other documents relating to the property, or by contacting their mortgage lender if they have one. You can also find out this information by contacting HM Land Registry.
Step two – find the will and appoint executors
Once you have established the ownership of the property, you next step is to find the will, if there is one. This will tell you how the deceased wanted their property, and other elements of their estate, to be shared out.
The will also tells you who they wanted to oversee this process. This person, or persons are known as the executor or executors. But don’t worry; the people named will usually have been told in advance of their role when the will was written.
If there is no will, then the person is said to have died ‘intestate’. In this case, the estate, including any property, is distributed according to a set of rules drawn up by the government. You can read these rules here.
What you need to do: Find the latest version of the will or look up the rules for distributing an intestate estate.
Step three – apply for probate
You need to apply for probate as soon as possible, as there are a number of things, including selling a probate house, that you cannot do until probate is granted. You can apply quickly and easily online here.
If there is no will, you need to apply for Letters of Administration, which give you the same powers and responsibilities as probate. The ‘closest living relative’ should apply to administer the estate, such as a child or grandchild, nephew or niece.
What you need to do: Apply for probate, or letters of administration, online or by post as soon as possible. The fee for this is £300, and according to Gov.uk the process currently takes around 12 weeks. If you applied online you can track progress on the probate service website.
You can learn more about the probate process in detail our companion article ‘A step by step guide to probate’.
Only once probate has been granted can you complete selling an inherited property. To see how much you could get from a fast cash homebuyer, click the button below for a no-obligation estimate.
Step four – selling a probate house
After probate has been granted, you will be tasked with disposing of the property. This usually involves selling it and sharing the proceeds between the beneficiaries, but it could also involve one of them buying out the others, or even you moving in to the property yourself and paying off the other beneficiaries.
When it comes to selling a probate property, there are legal obligations, sale options and tax implications to consider, many of which only apply when selling a probate house. We’ll explain each of these for you in the sections below.
Your obligations while selling a probate house
Whether you’re selling an inherited property left to you by your parents or selling a probate property inherited from a distant relative, if you are the executor of the will, or the administrator of an intestate estate, you will have a number of responsibilities regarding the property.
You are formally the owner of the property until the estate has been distributed, and as such, it is your responsibility to take care of it. This includes:
- Maintaining mortgage payments, or agreeing a formal pause with their lender
- Insuring the property and letting the insurer know it is unoccupied
- Paying council tax and applying for any exemptions/reductions available
- Paying standing charges for utilities
- Maintenance and security of the property to keep it in good order ready for sale
You’ll be able to recoup any out-of-pocket expenses for doing this, but you will need to pay up front from your own funds. It’s worth noting that the longer the property stands vacant, the more it will cost to maintain. If you fail to do so, you could be sued for any loss of value by the beneficiaries of the will, so the sooner you can start selling an inherited property the better.
By far the fastest and easiest way of selling a probate property is to sell to a cash homebuyer. To find out how much you could get for the property, in exchange for a quick and painless sale, click the button below for your estimate now.
Your options for selling a probate house
It’s important to state from the start that as an executor or administrator, you have a legal obligation to the beneficiaries of the will to get the best possible price when selling a probate house.
However, if all the beneficiaries are in agreement, you can sell a probate house fast, for less, to give them access to their inheritance sooner.
There are three options when selling a probate property:
- Open market sale – this will get the best price, but it can take six to twelve months to complete. Many buyers will be put off by probate properties as the timescale of the sale is uncertain. You will also have to clear the property and endure endless viewers poking around your loved one’s home when you are at your most vulnerable.
- Selling at auction – an auction sale will usually raise around 90% of the property’s value, and it will be quicker than a sale on the open market, taking around two or three months from start to finish. However, there are no guarantees on price, or even if it will sell at all.
- Selling to a cash house buyer – a sale to a cash homebuyer will usually raise around 80% of the property value, but the sale will be guaranteed and will be completed in around 14days, with no need for painful viewings or any work on the property.
If you decide on selling an inherited property at auction or by using a cash homebuyer, it is essential that you get written agreement from all beneficiaries. Without this, you could be sued for failing to get the best price for the property.
If you want to suggest using a cash homebuyer, the beneficiaries will need to be made aware of the price you could get when selling a probate house. You can get a free cash offer estimate, with no obligation, by clicking the button below.
The tax implications when selling a probate house
If the value of the estate exceeds a certain limit, then you will need to pay inheritance tax on the difference. It is your responsibility, as executor or administrator, to work out the value of the estate, and to pay any inheritance tax that is due.
You can find out more about inheritance tax, the current thresholds and how and when you have to pay by reading our companion article – ‘Understanding Inheritance and Inheritance Tax thresholds’.
The important thing to know about inheritance tax is that it falls due six months after the death, regardless of where you’re up to in settling the estate.
If you’re selling an inherited property using an estate agent, chances are the sale will not complete before you have to start paying this tax. As an executor, this can mean that you will have to pay this out of your own pocket, and wait until the sale finally goes through before you get your money back.
This is another good reason to use a fast cash homebuyer when selling an inherited property.
By selling a probate property to a cash buyer, you can arrange to complete the day probate is granted, so you have the money ready to settle any inheritance tax bill when it falls due.
To find out what your inherited property is worth, click the button below for your free, no-obligation estimate.
How the Property Sale Watchdog can help in selling a probate house
Selling a probate house may seem like a long and complicated process, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are genuine cash house buyers out there who can help you to dispose of a property quickly and easily, so you can access your inheritance and move on with your life.
By selling an inherited property to a cash buyer, you can avoid viewings, repairs and redecoration, and some will even clear the property for you to save you the stress of sorting things out yourself. You’ll get your cash quicker, usually on the day that probate is granted, and you won’t have to worry about the cost of maintaining the property or any impending inheritance tax bills.
The Property Sale Watchdog is here to help you find a cash homebuyer you can trust when you need them most. We’ll connect you to a genuine buyer who will offer a fair price, a guaranteed sale and a quick completion.
To find out how much you could get by selling a probate house to one of our fully vetted and approved cash homebuyers, click the button below.