Probate & trust
Selling a home you didn't plan to own.
Inheriting a house comes with a legal process, a tax clock, and usually a family. The order you do things in matters more than almost anything else.
Most people handling an estate have never done it before, are doing it while grieving, and are getting advice from several relatives at once. The house is usually the largest asset and the one nobody agrees on.
The useful thing an agent can do here is not marketing. It is sequencing: telling you what has to happen first, what can wait, and which decisions have deadlines attached that nobody mentioned.
The order to do things in
Five steps, and the first one decides the rest.
- 01
Find out whether it's in a trust
If the property was held in a living trust, the successor trustee can usually sell without probate at all. That is dramatically faster and cheaper. If it was not, the estate likely goes through probate in the county where the property sits. Establish this before anything else, because it decides your entire timeline.
- 02
Understand what authority you have
Probate sales in California run under either full or limited authority granted by the court. Full authority generally means you can sell without a confirmation hearing. Limited authority means the sale goes back to court for confirmation and can be overbid in the courtroom. These are very different transactions and they need to be priced and marketed differently.
- 03
Get a date-of-death valuation
Your cost basis is generally stepped up to the fair market value at the date of death rather than what the original owner paid. For a Valley home held for decades, that usually eliminates most or all of the capital gains exposure. Getting a defensible number early matters, because it is what the eventual gain is measured against.
- 04
Decide what to do with the house itself
Most inherited homes have deferred maintenance, dated systems, and decades of belongings in them. Clear it out and list as-is, invest in targeted repairs, or sell directly in current condition. Which is right depends on what the estate can front, how fast the heirs need resolution, and how far away everyone lives.
- 05
Sell, distribute, close the estate
Marketing, offers, and escrow, with the added coordination that probate and trust sales require. Los Angeles County does not always record the same day, so the final step can take an extra 24 to 48 hours.
The 12-month clock nobody mentions
California’s Proposition 19 tightened the rules for inherited property considerably. A child inheriting a parent’s home keeps the parent’s low property tax assessment only by making it their own primary residence and claiming the homeowners’ exemption within 12 months, and even then the protection is capped at the assessed value plus $1 million.
Rent it out, keep it as a second home, or simply take too long deciding, and the assessment resets to market value. For a Valley home held since the 1980s, that is frequently a very large annual increase, and it is what turns “we’ll figure it out later” into a forced sale.
If you are early in the process, this is the single most valuable thing to understand. The Prop 19 guide covers both the inherited-property rules and the separate, far more generous rules for homeowners 55 and older.
Common questions
- Do I need to go through probate to sell an inherited house in California?
- Not if the property was held in a living trust. A successor trustee can generally sell without probate. If there was no trust, the estate usually must go through probate in the county where the property is located, which in Los Angeles County commonly takes many months.
- How long does a probate home sale take in Los Angeles County?
- It depends on whether the personal representative has full or limited authority. With full authority the sale can proceed much like a normal transaction. With limited authority the sale must return to court for confirmation and can be overbid, which adds time and uncertainty.
- Will I owe capital gains tax on an inherited home?
- Your basis is generally stepped up to the fair market value at the date of death rather than the original purchase price. For a long-held California home that usually eliminates most or all of the gain if you sell reasonably soon after inheriting. Confirm the specifics with a CPA.
- Can I keep my parent's low property tax assessment?
- Only if you make the home your own primary residence and claim the homeowners' exemption within 12 months, and even then the protection is capped at the assessed value plus $1 million. If you rent it out or keep it as a second home, the assessment resets to market value.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Probate procedure and tax treatment depend on your specific situation. Work with a probate attorney and a CPA.
Start with a conversation
No obligation, and no pressure to list. If the right answer is to wait or to talk to an attorney first, that is what you’ll hear.