Personal Representative Selling Real Estate in California
A personal representative can sell a California estate's real estate once the probate court has appointed them and issued letters. After that, the path depends on the authority the court granted. With full authority, the sale can usually go forward after a notice to the family. Otherwise, the court must confirm the sale before title passes.
California property guideUpdated October 17, 2026General information, not legal or tax advice
Most people facing this role did not ask for it. A parent or spouse has died, the house is still full of their life, and the court has handed an adult child, a spouse or another relative the legal job of turning that house into something the estate can divide. Siblings may be asking when it will sell. A buyer's agent may be asking who signs. This page walks through where that authority comes from, the two ways a California probate sale can run, what the seller owes the family and the buyer, and how the main ways to sell compare.
What a Personal Representative Is Under California Law
Probate Code section 58 defines the term. A "personal representative" means an executor, an administrator, an administrator with the will annexed, a special administrator, a successor personal representative, a public administrator acting under the Probate Code, or a person doing substantially the same job under another jurisdiction's law, according to Probate Code section 58. In plain words:
Executor. The person named in the will to carry it out, once the court appoints them.
Administrator. The person the court appoints when there is no will, or when the named executor cannot or will not serve.
Administrator with the will annexed. An administrator appointed where there is a will but no executor is serving.
Special administrator. A person appointed for a limited purpose or period.
Successor personal representative. Someone who takes over after the first one stops serving.
This page uses "personal representative" for all of them and says so where a rule applies to only one. The executor's role in particular matters for an executor selling inherited property.
Authority comes from the court, not from the will and not from a family's agreement. Under Probate Code section 8400, a person has no power to administer the estate until appointed, and the appointment takes effect when the court issues letters. Letters are the court document proving that authority. They are called letters testamentary for an executor and letters of administration for an administrator. A named executor may, before letters issue, pay funeral expenses and take necessary steps to maintain and preserve the estate, and nothing more. The California Courts guide to property after someone dies notes that two or more people can represent an estate together. When there are two, both must agree to exercise a power, and when there are more than two, a majority must agree; the others can carry on if one dies, resigns or is removed, and the court can authorize them to act if one is unable to act.
A trustee or successor trustee is a different role. Their authority to sell trust property comes from the trust document and the law governing trusts, not from letters.
Authority to Sell: Full Authority, Limited Authority, and Court Confirmation
The default rule is court confirmation. Probate Code section 10308 says that, except as provided in section 10503, every sale of estate real property must be reported to and confirmed by the court before title passes to the buyer, whether the sale is private or at public auction, and even if the will directs or authorizes the sale.
The exception comes from the Independent Administration of Estates Act, the part of the Probate Code that lets a personal representative run an estate, including selling real property, with less court supervision. The court may grant this authority when it appoints the personal representative, and what it grants depends on the will's terms and the court's order on the petition. The order and the letters show which kind was granted.
Full authority. Under Probate Code section 10511, a personal representative with full authority has the power to sell or exchange estate real property.
Limited authority. It does not include that power, so a sale of real property goes through court confirmation.
No independent authority. The sale also goes through court confirmation.
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.
A personal representative with full authority still gives a notice of proposed action before the sale. This is a written notice to the heirs and beneficiaries describing the planned sale. If no one objects within the period the Probate Code sets, the sale can go forward without confirmation. If someone objects in time, the sale goes to the court for confirmation. The buyer does not change any of this. A cash buyer and a financed buyer face the same authority and the same steps. The probate sale process in California follows these same two tracks.
The Court-Confirmation Sale: How It Works
For a family whose estate lacks full authority, or where an heir objected, the sale runs on the court's schedule. That can feel slow when bills are arriving for an empty house. The steps follow a set order.
Appraisal. A probate referee, a valuer appointed by the court, appraises the property for the estate's inventory, unless the court waives that appointment. The Judicial Council's Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative statement describes this. The appraised value sets the floor an accepted offer is measured against. The Probate Code fixes the exact minimum and how recent the appraisal must be, and the estate's attorney can apply those figures to the file.
An accepted offer. The personal representative accepts a buyer's offer, subject to the court's confirmation.
Report and petition. The sale is reported to the court with a petition to confirm it. Under Probate Code section 10308, if the personal representative does not file within 30 days after the sale, the buyer may file the report and petition.
Notice of the hearing. Notice goes to the persons the Probate Code designates and to the buyers named in the petition, and is posted, under the same section. This track generally also includes published notice of the sale.
The hearing. The judge examines the sale terms and reviews the real estate agent's commission. Other bidders may appear and bid higher than the accepted offer by at least the amount the Probate Code sets. If a higher bid wins, the property goes to that bidder.
Closing. Once the court confirms the sale, the personal representative signs the deed and escrow closes.
Duties and Disclosures When Selling Estate Real Property
A personal representative is a fiduciary: someone who manages property for others and must put their interests first. Probate Code section 9600 gives the personal representative management and control of the estate and requires ordinary care and diligence, judged by all the circumstances of that estate. The Judicial Council's statement adds, among other duties, managing estate assets with the care of a prudent person handling someone else's property, keeping estate money separate from personal funds, and keeping complete records of every transaction for the court's review. It also says that within four months after letters are first issued, the personal representative files an inventory and appraisal. At the same time, a change of ownership statement is filed with the county recorder or assessor in each county where the decedent owned real property.
Those duties hold when the personal representative is also an heir. Selling the house to oneself or a relative, or taking a benefit from the sale, raises a conflict of interest, and the estate's attorney handles that question. Where heirs are in conflict or misconduct is suspected, the matter belongs with an attorney who litigates probate cases.
On disclosures, Civil Code section 1102.2 exempts several kinds of sale from the article that requires the real estate transfer disclosure statement. These include sales under court order, such as sales ordered by a probate court in administering an estate, and sales by a fiduciary in the course of administering a trust, guardianship, conservatorship or decedent's estate. The 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. Other disclosure rules, such as natural hazard disclosure, can still apply. The house may be sold in its present condition, and the estate's attorney or agent can say which disclosures this sale requires. The tradeoffs of an inherited house that needs repairs follow from these duties.
Finally, the personal representative accounts to the court, and through it to the heirs and beneficiaries, for the sale proceeds and every expense paid from them.
Basis, Property Tax, and the Transfer
Two different taxes matter here, and they are easy to confuse. Basis is the federal income-tax starting point used to measure gain on a sale. 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 alternatives are its value on the alternate valuation date if that election is made, its value under the special-use valuation election if that applies, or, to the extent a particular estate-tax exclusion applies, the decedent's own basis. A date-of-death appraisal therefore matters for the heirs as well as the court.
Property tax is a separate question. A change in ownership generally lets the county reassess. Under Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2, beginning on and after February 16, 2021, a transfer of a parent's principal residence to a child, or a grandparent's to a grandchild whose parents who are the grandparents' children are all deceased, can be excluded from reassessment if a claim is filed. The home must become the child's or grandchild's principal residence within one year, and they must file for the homeowners' or disabled veterans' exemption within a year. If the home's value exceeds its prior taxable value plus $1,000,000, the excess is added to the taxable value.
The claim goes to the county assessor. It is due 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. Alternatively, it is timely if filed within six months after a notice of supplemental or escape assessment is mailed. A sale to an outside buyer is a transfer to a third party. That makes the exclusion mostly a question for an heir keeping the house, not for an estate selling it.
A CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney reviews basis and income-tax questions. The county assessor's office answers reassessment and exclusion questions and publishes current figures.
Ways to Sell Estate Real Property: What Each Involves
Choosing how to sell is part of the fiduciary duty, just as the price is. Each way has tradeoffs, and none removes a court step, a notice or a disclosure.
Way to sell
What it involves
What it trades
Listing with a licensed agent
The agent markets the house, buyers make offers, and the sale closes through escrow. In a court-confirmation sale, the court reviews the commission.
Open-market exposure, against commission, preparation, showings and dependence on a buyer's loan.
Sale without an agent
The personal representative markets and negotiates directly, under the same disclosure duties and, where it applies, court confirmation.
No listing commission, against the work and judgment the seller takes on.
Direct sale to a cash buyer
A buyer pays cash and takes the house in its present condition.
A direct offer is often lower than an open-market price, because the buyer carries the repairs, the risk and the cost of reselling. In exchange, the seller gets less preparation, fewer showings and less dependence on a buyer's loan.
A direct buyer still waits for the notice of proposed action period or the confirmation hearing. In a confirmation sale, a direct buyer can also be outbid in court like any other buyer.
Families tell which way fits by comparing written offers and estimated net proceeds: the price less commissions, repairs, carrying costs, loan payoffs and closing costs. A side-by-side look at a cash offer versus a listing sets out those figures in more detail.
When you’re ready
You Don’t Have to Work This Out Alone
If you’re dealing with selling real estate as a personal representative, 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.
Does an executor have the right to sell property in California?
Yes, once the court appoints the executor and issues letters testamentary. Being named in the will alone is not enough. How the sale proceeds depends on whether the court granted full authority, limited authority or no independent authority, as described above.
Does a personal representative need court approval to sell real estate in California?
It depends on the authority granted. With full authority, a sale can go forward without court confirmation if no one objects in time to the notice of proposed action. With limited authority or no independent authority, or after a timely objection, the court must confirm the sale under Probate Code section 10308.
What is the difference between full authority and limited authority under the IAEA?
Full authority includes the power to sell estate real property after a notice of proposed action, without court confirmation unless someone objects. Limited authority does not include that power, so real property sales go through court confirmation. The will and the court's appointment order determine which applies.
What are the disadvantages of being a personal representative?
The role carries fiduciary duties, deadlines and record-keeping for the court. The Judicial Council's statement says that failing to obtain court permission when required can lead to removal, to repaying the estate personally, or to both. Selling a house adds notices, disclosures and, sometimes, a court hearing.
What disclosures does a personal representative owe when selling California real estate?
Probate sales are generally exempt from the transfer disclosure statement under Civil Code section 1102.2, but other disclosure rules can still apply. The section on duties and disclosures above sets out the exemption and its limits, and the estate's attorney can say which disclosures a particular sale requires.
What is the stepped-up basis for inherited California real estate?
Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(a), basis is generally the property's fair market value at the date of death, or one of the alternative values that section allows. Whether a particular sale produces taxable gain is a question for a CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney.
Can a personal representative sell real estate without listing it with an agent?
Yes. The personal representative can sell without an agent or directly to a buyer. Disclosure duties, the notice of proposed action and any required court confirmation apply in the same way whichever buyer or method is used.
