If you’ve inherited a house and you’re wondering if you can now sell that house, absolutely. It’s yours. You’ve legally inherited the property. You have the right to sell the property, but there’s a couple of questions that you might want to ask yourself.
First, was there a will? If there was a will and that will states that the property goes to you, great. But was that will probated? What do I mean probated? The big picture is, did it go before a judge? Did the judge sign off that this is a good, legal will and that you’re the one that should inherit the property? Then that will is going to help you out when you go to sell the property.
What if there wasn’t a will? Or what if maybe there was a will, but you’re wondering if you can sell it without probating the will? Oftentimes, there are other options. Typically what we see if there wasn’t a will or if there was a will and that will hasn’t been probated, you can get affidavits of heirship.
What’s an affidavit of heirship? Basically what that affidavit of heirship states is that the legal heirs to the property are A, B, and C, or one person, or a brother and sister, or however it will go through the chain of title. Getting affidavits of heirship is not incredibly hard most of the time. You just need some background on the folks.
Then you get a couple of what are known as disinterested parties. What does that mean? It means a couple of people who knew everybody involved in the transaction, knew the people that passed away, and could swear that this is the truth and these are the heirs to the property. This was the previous owner of the property. When they say they’re disinterested parties, basically means that they’re not going to benefit from the sale so it can’t be the actual heirs or someone who might profit from the sale of the property.
So look at your property. You know you inherited it and you want to sell it. Was there a will? If that will was probated, then you might want to go down that path. If there wasn’t a will or it wasn’t a will, then you might have to go down the path of affidavits of heirship, but you can still sell the property.
If you have to do a few of these extra steps, make sure you work with somebody who has experience with inherited properties and you can help guide you through the path and help you get your property sold and move forward.
I hope this helps. If there’s anything we can do for you, give us a call, (210) 201-6644, or at the website, sellmysanantoniohouse.com.