Inherited Property

Probate for a Los Angeles County decedent’s estate is filed and heard at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, and the first-paper filing fee is $435. Whether you can sell the house quickly depends less on the court’s calendar than on whether the personal representative holds full or limited authority.

In California, usually yes. A personal representative with full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act can sell estate real property without beneficiary consent — but must give 15 days’ written notice first, and an objection changes what happens next.

Whether you need to go through probate before selling an inherited California home depends almost entirely on how the property was titled before the owner died. Some heirs can sell…

One of the most common worries heirs bring up is capital gains. “My parents bought this house for $60,000 and it’s worth $900,000 — am I going to owe tax…

Inheriting California property while living in another state creates a specific set of problems. You are managing a legal process in an unfamiliar jurisdiction, coordinating with people you cannot easily…

When a house passes to several siblings, the property is rarely the hard part. The hard part is that one of you wants to sell, one wants to keep it…

If you inherited a house in California and expected to keep your parents’ low property tax bill, there is a rule you need to understand. Proposition 19, effective February 2021,…

Inheriting a house in California often comes with more stress than relief. Between probate paperwork, unpaid property taxes, deferred maintenance, and disagreements among siblings or co-heirs, many people find that…