The death of your last surviving parent is a devastating event to have to deal with. If you are currently in this situation, please accept the condolences of the whole PSW team. Our thoughts are with you.
Sadly, dealing with the death of a parent means dealing with more than just the emotional impact. You also have to deal with a tonne of paperwork and admin, including finding their will and applying for probate (or applying for Letters of Administration if there is no will).
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One of the most difficult aspects of this process can be deciding what to do with their property. Selling your parents’ home is not an easy thing to do, especially if it was your childhood home.
We’ve put together this practical guide to help you to understand your responsibilities and obligations when it comes to selling your parents’ house. We hope you find it useful and that it offers you some simple solutions at what is a truly difficult time. In this guide we’ll discuss:
- How PSW makes selling your parents’ house simple and straightforward
- How to apply for probate (or Letters of Administration)
- What can you do before probate is granted?
- What are your responsibilities as an executor?
- A word of warning
- What are your options for selling your parents’ home?
- What are the advantages of selling your parents’ house to a cash buyer?
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.
How to apply for probate (or Letters of Administration)
Once you have found the will, and established ownership of the property, you need to apply for probate. There’s not much you can do before probate is granted, so you need to do this as soon as possible, even if you are still grieving.
To apply for probate, you need to be a named executor of the will or be someone nominated by an executor. Fortunately, you can apply for probate online quickly and easily, at a cost of £300.
Before you make your application, you need to estimate the value of the estate. There is an easy guide available here. You’ll need to get the property valued, with the help of local estate agents, as well as getting an approximate price for any other valuables, such as jewellery, antiques or motor vehicles.
If the estate is worth over £325,000, or over £500,000 if property is being left to direct descendants, then it will be liable for Inheritance Tax, and you need to inform HMRC and get a reference number for your probate application. You can read more about Inheritance Tax in our companion article here.
If there’s no will, then a close relative of the deceased can apply for Letters of Administration, which give you the same rights and responsibilities as a grant of probate.
You can read more about probate in our companion article here.
What can you do before probate is granted?
According to Gov.uk, grant of probate currently takes around sixteen weeks to come through. This can provide a welcome breathing space and give you time to deal with your loss before you have to get on with selling your parents’ home.
You are not allowed to distribute any items of value or complete the process of selling your parents’ home until probate has been granted, but friends and family may take smaller items that are precious to them.
You can start the process of selling your parents’ home before probate is granted, but you can’t complete the sale. This makes selling via an estate agent problematic and selling at auction impractical.
If you take the option of selling your parents’ home to a cash buyer, they can arrange completion for the day that probate is granted, giving you the swiftest possible conclusion to the painful process and the earliest access to your inheritance.
To find out what you could get by selling your parents’ house to a fast cash buyer, click the button below. There’s no obligation to proceed, but at least you’ll know where you stand.
(Note: please read the ‘word of warning’ section below before using a cash buyer)
What are your responsibilities as an executor?
If your parents were elderly, or on their own, chances are you’ve already been involved in the upkeep and maintenance of their home. However, as an executor, this now becomes your legal responsibility. Technically speaking, you own the property until it is sold or passed on after probate is granted, and it is down to you to look after it and maintain its value.
This includes paying the bills, such as standing charges for utilities, insuring the property, keeping it safe and secure, and arranging any repairs or maintenance that may be required. If you don’t do this, and the house loses value as a result, the beneficiaries could make a claim against you.
You also have a responsibility to raise as much as possible from the assets of the deceased, and that includes getting the best price when selling your parents’ house.
What are your options for selling your parents’ home?
As with any home sale, you have three main options for selling your parents’ house:
- Selling with an estate agent – timescale: six months or longer. Price: close to full market value
- Selling at auction – timescale: two to three months. Price: around 90% of market value
- Selling to a cash buyer – timescale: 14days or less. Price: around 80% of market value
The option you choose will depend on how soon the beneficiaries want to get hold of their inheritance, and how much work they want to do to sell the home.
Selling your parents’ home via an estate agent can be a long and drawn-out process, involving multiple viewings and heart-breaking house clearances. It can make the grieving process drag on for as much as a year, when you and your family just want to get things over and done with and move on with your lives.
Selling at auction is a little quicker, at around two to three months, but you will still need to prepare it and host multiple viewings.
What are the advantages of selling your parents’ house to a cash buyer?
Selling your parents’ house to a cash buyer is a much quicker and far less painful process, but there is a price to pay for the privilege. Given that you and your family were probably not expecting your inheritance, you may not be worried about getting a little less cash in order to get that cash sooner and have the whole business over and done with.
A reputable cash buyer will work with you, sensitively and sympathetically, to create a deal that meets all your needs. They’ll do all the preparatory work ready for you to complete the sale, and get your inheritance, the day that probate is granted. They can even take away the painful burden of having to clear the property, or arrange repairs or modernisations, by buying it ‘as is’.
A word of warning
As discussed above, as an executor, you have a legal obligation to get the best possible price when selling your parents’ home. However, if all the beneficiaries agree, then you can sell faster, for a little less, by using a cash homebuyer.
If you choose this method of selling your parents’ home, it’s essential that you get written agreement from all parties, or you risk legal action against you in the future.
How PSW makes selling your parents’ house simple and straightforward
Here at the Property Sale Watchdog, we understand how hard it is to lose a loved one. We know that selling your parents’ house is probably the last thing you want to be dealing with right now. That’s why we go out of our way to make things as simple and straightforward as possible.
Just click the button below to get an instant estimate of how much you could get by selling your parents’ house to a cash house buyer. If you and the other beneficiaries are ok with this figure, we can put you in touch with a fully vetted and recommended cash house buying company.
There’s no need for you to spend time researching your cash buyer when you’re feeling upset and unfocussed. Our experts have done all that for you. You can trust us to take care of you when you need it most, leaving you free to sort out the million and one other things you have to deal with after a death.
You can find a step by step guide to ‘What to do when someone dies’ on the Government website, including how to register the death, who to tell and probate details like those discussed here. This guide is very user-friendly and can be a great help in focussing your efforts when you’re not thinking straight.
Once again, we offer our sincere condolences at this difficult time and trust that finding a quick and easy way of selling your parents’ home will ease some of the burden on you and your family.