Absolutely! You can sell a home during probate in Florida. Selling an interited home may even be necessary to settle estate debts, pay legal fees, or resolve disputes among heirs.
There are many reasons why people decide to sell a house that they have inherited. To some people, they sell because they have a financial problem, some prefer not to keep the house due to personal reasons, while others want to avoid high maintenance costs or taxes that the house demands.
Regardless of the reason, one thing that you need to know is that selling a house in probate can be more complicated than selling a normal house. However, that does not mean that it is not possible to sell a probate house.
How is selling a home in probate different from non-probate? When the probate court appoints a person the Executor of an estate that person becomes an officer of the court. They must follow the probate process.
How does an Executor sell a probate home in Florida? Probate is managed in the Probate Division of the Superior Court. Ideally, the Executor should hire an experienced probate real estate agent.
If the deceased person died without a Will, the person appointed gets issued Letters of Administration. When the decedent died with a Will, and the named Executor gets appinted to administer the estate, Letters Testamentary gets issued. A Will may grant the power to sell the real property.
Before an Executor or Administrator can sell a house, they must have the authority by the probate court. The official appointment is when the probate court judge signs the Order for Probate and issues the letters. Once appointed, they assume fiduciary duties and liabilites in managing the estate's assets including selling the house.
Fiduciary duty means a legal responsibility that involves a high stand of care to manage the property for a person. Most times when Executors sell property, they are selling the most valuable estate asset and most don't how know who to sell estate property.
When an Executor is selling the house, it only makes sense to hire a real estate agent experienced in probate with knowledge and understands an Executor's duties and legal obligations.
If you inherit a house in the will, you will need to go to probate court to be able to sell the home you inherited. In many cases, to clear the legal title of the home and be able to sell it, it will take 4-5 months after the probate proceedings. If you inherited the house by deed, selling is much easier and does not require going through the probate process in Florida.
When selling a home during probate in Florida, the court typically expects you to provide the following documents: