To sell a probate house in California, the personal representative the court appoints first receives letters, has the house appraised, and then sells it either under full authority after a notice of proposed action that no one blocks, or through a court hearing that confirms the sale. Escrow then pays the liens, and the estate accounts for the proceeds.
California property guideUpdated October 17, 2026General information, not legal or tax advice
If you are reading this, someone you loved has died and left a house, and you may be the one the family is now looking to for answers about it. You may be handling it from another city, fielding questions from siblings, and trying to understand a court process you have never seen before, all while grieving. Most people facing this process have the same first questions: who is allowed to sign, whether a judge has to approve the sale, and what could hold it up. What follows walks through the sale of a California probate house in the order it usually happens, and names which steps the estate's attorney, the escrow and title company, a tax professional or a real estate licensee usually handles.
Before You Start: What You Need in Place
The first thing to settle is who holds the power to sell, because a buyer, an escrow officer and a title company will all ask. In a California probate, that person is the personal representative, the person the court appoints to manage the estate. An executor is a personal representative named in the will. An administrator is a personal representative the court appoints when there is no will or no named executor who serves. An heir is a person who inherits under California's rules when there is no will, and a beneficiary is a person who receives property under a will or a trust. A successor trustee is the person who takes over a trust after the person who created it dies.
Authority to sell comes from the court's appointment or, for trust property, from the trust document itself. It does not come from family agreement. This guide covers real property, meaning the land and the house, and not personal property such as furniture, vehicles or bank accounts.
Some houses never enter probate. A house held in a living trust is sold by the successor trustee. A house held in joint tenancy generally passes to the surviving joint owner. A transfer on death deed passes the owner's interest at death to the named beneficiaries, who take as tenants in common in equal shares if there is more than one, subject to recorded liens, under Probate Code section 5652. Where family members are in conflict or misconduct is suspected, that is a contested matter for an attorney who litigates trust and probate cases.
Before any sale step, it helps to gather:
Certified death certificate. Courts, title companies and lenders ask for one.
Will or trust document. It shows who is named and what powers they have.
Title documents. The deed shows how the house was held at death.
Mortgage and lien statements. These show what escrow will need to pay off.
A probate sale cannot begin until someone has legal power to act for the estate. The process starts with a petition to the superior court asking the judge to appoint a personal representative. The California Courts' Overview of formal probate says the case is filed in the county where the decedent lived, or, if the decedent lived outside California but owned property here, in the California county where the property is. The court sets a hearing, and notice of the petition goes to the people entitled to it; the estate's attorney handles that notice.
When the will names an executor, that person is usually considered first. When there is no will, the law sets an order of priority that begins with a surviving spouse or domestic partner, then children, then grandchildren, then other descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters, and continues from there.
Appointment is not effective until letters issue. Letters are the court document that proves the personal representative's authority. Under Probate Code section 8400, a person has no power to administer the estate until appointed and issued letters, whether or not named as executor, except that a named executor may pay funeral expenses and take necessary steps to maintain and preserve the estate before then. Every buyer, title company and escrow officer will ask for a certified copy of the letters.
Smaller or qualifying estates may use one of California's simplified procedures instead: the affidavit for collection or transfer of personal property, the petition to determine succession to the decedent's primary residence (Probate Code section 13151, available after 40 days have passed since the death and subject to a value limit adjusted periodically), the affidavit for real property of small value (Probate Code section 13200, no sooner than six months after the death), and the spousal or domestic partner property petition. The dollar limits change over time; the California Courts publish the current figures.
Step 2 — Get the Property Appraised by a Probate Referee
This step can feel like a formality, but the number it produces shapes the whole sale if the court has to confirm it. A probate referee is an appraiser appointed by the California State Controller to value estate assets. The Controller's Probate Referees page says the Controller appoints at least one probate referee per county and that a referee's service is required for court resolution of an estate. The Judicial Council's DE-147 Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative says the personal representative must arrange for a court-appointed referee to value the property unless the court waives the appointment.
The appraisal goes into the inventory and appraisal, one combined document filed with the court. Under Probate Code section 8800, it is filed within four months after letters are first issued to a general personal representative, or within any further time the court allows as reasonable. With it, the personal representative files a certification that a change in ownership statement has been filed with the recorder or assessor of each California county where the decedent owned property, or that the decedent owned no California real property.
The referee's value is a legal baseline, not a listing price. A personal representative may also get an agent's market analysis or a broker's price opinion to help with pricing, but the referee's appraisal is the one the court relies on. For a court-confirmed sale, Probate Code section 10309 generally requires that the property was appraised within one year before the confirmation hearing, with a valuation date within that same year, and allows a new appraisal where the old one is too old or where the court finds it too high or too low.
Step 3 — Determine Whether the Sale Needs Court Confirmation
This is the question most families most want answered, and it turns on two facts: what authority the court granted, and whether anyone objects. The Independent Administration of Estates Act is a California law that lets a personal representative take certain actions, including selling real property, without returning to court for approval, when the court has granted authority under the Act. The estate's attorney usually asks for that authority in the petition that opens the estate. The letters show which kind was granted. The Judicial Council's DE-150 Letters (Probate) form says limited authority gives no power, without court supervision, to sell or exchange real property.
With full authority, Probate Code section 10511 gives the personal representative the power to sell estate real property, and Probate Code section 10580 requires a notice of proposed action before an action when the governing provision calls for one. The Judicial Council's DE-165 Notice of Proposed Action form says a person who does not object in writing or obtain a court order is treated as having consented, that the objection must reach the personal representative before the date stated in the notice or before the action is taken, whichever is later, and that after an objection the action may be taken only under court supervision. Under Probate Code section 10503, the court-confirmation requirements, such as published notice of sale, court approval of commissions, the appraised-value rule and the court's examination of the sale, do not apply to a sale made with that authority.
Without full authority, or after an objection, the sale is reported to the court and confirmed before title passes, under Probate Code section 10308, whether the sale is private or at auction and even if the will directs the sale. Notice of the sale is generally published first under Probate Code section 10300. The confirmation is open to overbidding, and Probate Code section 10309 generally requires the offer to be at least 90 percent of the appraised value.
A successor trustee selling trust property generally does not go through this probate confirmation, because the house is not in a probate estate, though the trustee's duties and the beneficiaries' rights still apply. A fuller walk-through of the two tracks is in the guide to selling inherited property during probate.
Step 4 — Prepare the Property and Choose How to Sell
Deciding how to sell often means deciding how much work, money and time the estate can put into the house. The estate keeps paying property taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep until closing, so preparation and time on the market both have a cost.
There are three broad ways to sell. A listing with a licensed real estate agent exposes the house to the open market and can draw competing buyers, but it usually involves preparation, showings and a commission. A sale by the owner without an agent avoids a listing commission but leaves the personal representative to price, market and manage the paperwork. A direct sale is a sale to a buyer who pays cash and takes the house as it is. A direct offer is often lower than what the house might bring on the open market, because that buyer takes on the repairs, the risk and the cost of reselling; in exchange, the estate usually has less to prepare, fewer showings and less dependence on a buyer's loan. A reader can get an offer on an inherited property from Silver Lining Inherited Property, for a direct as-is sale, and asking for one carries no obligation to sell. The comparison of a cash offer and a listing goes through these tradeoffs side by side.
Whichever route is used, the court's steps from Step 3 are the same. Comparing written offers and estimated net proceeds, the price less commissions, repairs, carrying costs, loan payoffs and closing costs, is how a family tells which way fits.
A house can be sold in its present condition; the choices are laid out in the guide to an inherited house that needs repairs. On disclosures, Civil Code section 1102.2 lists sales to which its residential disclosure article does not apply, including sales ordered by a probate court and sales by a fiduciary in administering a trust or a decedent's estate, though that fiduciary exemption does not apply to a natural person who is trustee of a revocable trust and is a former owner of the property or lived in it within the preceding year. Which other disclosure duties still apply is a question for the estate's attorney.
A probate sale is not cash-only by law. A buyer may use a loan, though the lender has to accept the court timeline if a hearing is required.
Step 5 — Accept an Offer and Open Escrow
Signing the purchase agreement is the moment many personal representatives feel the weight of the role. The personal representative signs in a representative capacity, as executor or administrator of the named estate, not as an individual owner. Escrow, the neutral company that holds the money and documents until closing, opens in the usual way. The escrow officer asks for certified letters, and the title company reviews the probate file before it insures the buyer's title. Title insurance is usually required by buyers and lenders.
Under full authority with no objection to the notice of proposed action, escrow runs on the contract's schedule and no court hearing is held for the sale.
When confirmation is required, the accepted offer goes to the court in a report of sale and petition for confirmation, on the Judicial Council's DE-260 Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property. If the personal representative does not file within 30 days after the sale, Probate Code section 10308 lets the buyer file it. At the hearing, other buyers may bid. Under Probate Code section 10311, the court accepts a written higher offer from a responsible person that complies with the law if it is at least 10 percent more on the first $10,000 of the original bid and 5 percent more on the amount of the original bid above $10,000; the highest qualifying offer wins, and agents' commissions are left out of those amounts. The court may decline the higher offer and order a new sale instead. In a confirmed sale, the court also approves the agent's commission.
Step 6 — Clear Liens, Pay Creditors, and Close
The period between an accepted offer and closing is when the estate's debts come into view. The personal representative has a legal duty to give notice to creditors and to pay valid claims from the estate. DE-147 says notice of administration must be mailed to each known creditor within four months after appointment, and that if the decedent received Medi-Cal, the State Director of Health Services must be notified within 90 days after appointment. DE-147 also says the personal representative should not spend estate money without court permission or an attorney's advice. Secured debts, such as a mortgage, unpaid property taxes or a recorded mechanic's lien, are usually paid from the sale proceeds through escrow; the county tax collector's office publishes current tax amounts.
A mortgage often raises the question of whether the lender can call the loan. Under 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d), for a loan on residential property with fewer than five dwelling units, a lender may not use a due-on-sale clause on certain transfers, including a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower's death. A sale to an outside buyer is not among the transfers that subsection lists, and an existing loan is ordinarily paid off at closing.
At closing, escrow pays the liens and costs, the deed is recorded, and the personal representative receives a closing statement. That statement is part of the estate's accounting to the court. The remaining money belongs to the estate for distribution under the will or, without one, California's intestate succession rules.
Step 7 — Report the Sale and Close the Estate
The house may be sold, but the role of personal representative continues until the court releases it. The California Courts' formal probate overview says courts usually require a report about a year after appointment, and that, once the estate is ready to distribute, the personal representative files a final report, a final account and a petition for final distribution. The account shows what came in and went out, including the sale proceeds and the costs paid. A final account is not required if everyone entitled to distribution signs a written waiver of account or a written receipt for their share.
The court reviews the filing and may order final distribution. After distribution, the personal representative asks to be discharged, which ends the case. How long this takes depends on how complex the estate is, whether claims are disputed and the court's calendar.
A successor trustee who sold trust property has a parallel duty to account to the trust's beneficiaries under the trust document and California law, though a court accounting generally does not apply to a trust administration.
Property Tax Reassessment and the Inherited Property Exclusion
Property tax often decides how long a family can afford to hold the house while the sale is underway. A transfer at death is generally a change in ownership, which can lead the county assessor to reassess the house at current value unless an exclusion applies. For transfers on or after February 16, 2021, the parent-child and grandparent-grandchild exclusion is Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2.
That section's conditions for a family home include all of the following: it was the transferor's principal residence; it becomes the transferee's principal residence within one year of the transfer; and the transferee files for the homeowners' or disabled veterans' exemption within a year. The grandparent-grandchild version applies only if all of the grandchild's parents who are the grandparents' children have died. The exclusion is limited by value: if the home's market value is at or above its prior taxable value plus $1,000,000, the excess is added to the taxable value.
The claim is filed with the county assessor within three years after the transfer, or before the property is transferred to a third party, or before an eligible transferee stops living there, whichever is earliest; a claim filed within six months after a notice of supplemental or escape assessment is also treated as timely. Because a sale to an outside buyer is a transfer to a third party, the timing matters. The county assessor's office handles reassessment and exclusion claims and publishes its current forms.
The Stepped-Up Basis and Capital Gains on a Probate Sale
Families often worry that selling will bring a large tax bill, and the starting point for that question is basis, the tax value from which gain is measured. Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(a), the basis of property acquired from a decedent is generally its fair market value at the date of death. The statute's alternatives are the value on the alternate valuation date when an election under section 2032 is made, the value determined under section 2032A when that election is made, and, to the extent the section 2031(c) exclusion applies, the decedent's own basis.
In plain words, gain is generally measured from that basis, not from what the decedent originally paid. A rise or fall in value after the date of death does not change the basis itself; it affects only the difference between basis and sale price. A sale close to the date-of-death value may produce little or no gain, but that depends on the actual sale price, the exact basis and other facts.
Whether an estate or an heir owes federal or California income tax on a sale is a fact-specific question. A CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney reviews income tax and basis questions for the estate and for each heir.
When the Process Gets Complicated
Most probate sales follow the steps above, but some add time, filings or a different kind of help.
A disputed creditor claim
When the personal representative rejects a claim and the creditor disagrees, the court may have to resolve it before the estate can close, which adds time to distribution.
A title problem found in escrow
An unknown lien, an easement, an encroachment or a gap in the chain of ownership can stop a closing until it is cleared, sometimes through a separate court proceeding. The title company identifies these, and the estate's attorney addresses them.
Co-owners who disagree
When heirs or beneficiaries own a house together and cannot agree, California law provides partition, a court process in which a co-owner may ask the court to divide the property or order it sold. A contested partition is handled by an attorney who litigates those cases. More broadly, where heirs, a trustee or an executor are in conflict or misconduct is suspected, that is a different subject for an attorney who litigates trust and probate cases.
Heirs in other states
The probate stays in California, but an heir who lives elsewhere may face that state's law on their own share, and that state's law may apply.
Property in more than one county
Probate Code section 8800(d) requires the personal representative, when filing the inventory and appraisal, to also file a certification that the requirements of Revenue and Taxation Code section 480 either do not apply because the decedent owned no real property in California at the time of death, or have been satisfied by the filing of a change in ownership statement with the county recorder or assessor of each county in California in which the decedent owned property at the time of death. Local practice differs; for example, the guide to selling inherited property in San Diego County covers one county.
A loan in default or a house in disrepair
The estate generally keeps paying secured debt and maintaining the property during administration; missed payments or damage can affect the sale.
Typical Timeline
The time it takes is one of the hardest things to know at the start, because each phase depends on the court and the people involved. The usual sequence is: opening the estate and receiving letters; the probate referee's appraisal and the inventory filed within the period Probate Code section 8800 sets; the creditor notice period; the notice of proposed action, or the published notice and confirmation hearing; escrow; and the final account and discharge.
No fixed duration applies to each phase. Court calendars, creditor claims and whether anyone objects all move the total. A sale under full authority with no objection generally moves faster than a court-confirmed sale, because no hearing is needed for the sale itself. Where a simplified procedure applies instead of full probate, the process can be much shorter, but eligibility depends on the size of the estate and the kind of property.
When you’re ready
You Don’t Have to Work This Out Alone
If you’re dealing with the steps of selling a probate house, we’re here to talk it through.
Every inherited property is different. Call or send us a message, and we’ll listen. A direct offer is often lower than what the open market might bring, and asking for one does not commit you to selling.
Can you sell a house if it hasn't gone through probate?
Generally not, if the house is in a probate estate: only a personal representative with letters can transfer it. A house held in a living trust is sold by the successor trustee, a joint tenancy house generally passes to the survivor, and a transfer on death deed passes it to the named beneficiaries. The estate's attorney confirms which path applies.
How long can a house stay in probate in California?
There is no single answer. It depends on the estate's complexity, creditor claims, court scheduling and whether anyone objects to a proposed action. The phases are described under Typical Timeline above.
How quickly can you sell a house in probate?
With full authority and no objection, the sale can close on an ordinary escrow schedule once the date in the notice of proposed action passes. A court-confirmed sale adds the published notice, a hearing and possible overbidding before title passes.
Are probate sales cash only?
No. A buyer may finance the purchase. Some buyers choose cash in a court-confirmed sale because of the hearing schedule, but that is a practical choice, not a legal rule.
How much tax do you pay when you sell an inherited house in California?
It depends on the sale price, the basis under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(a) and other facts. Basis generally starts at the date-of-death value, as explained above. A CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney gives the fact-specific answer.
What happens to a house when the owner dies and there is no will?
It passes under California's intestate succession rules. The court appoints an administrator, following the order of priority described in Step 1, and the administrator sells through the same court process an executor would use.
Does a probate sale in California require court confirmation?
It depends on the authority the court granted and whether anyone objects to a notice of proposed action. With full authority and no objection, Probate Code section 10503 removes the confirmation requirements; otherwise the sale goes to a confirmation hearing, as Step 3 explains.
What is a probate referee and why is one needed?
A probate referee is an appraiser appointed by the State Controller who values estate assets, including the house. Unless the court waives it, the referee's appraisal sets the value used for the 90 percent rule in a court-confirmed sale.
