Selling a Los Feliz Home When the Heirs Live Out of State

When the person who died lived in Los Feliz, a probate is filed in Los Angeles County, wherever the heirs happen to live. The estate's attorney handles the court filings and hearings, and in many cases the family does not need to be present in person. If the home is held in a living trust, there is no court case at all. The successor trustee signs, and the sale moves much like any other.

An heir living in another state can often still serve as personal representative or trustee. The attorney will explain whether anything about living elsewhere changes how that works, such as a bond requirement. An heir who would rather not serve can decline, and when there is no will, an heir with priority can usually nominate someone else to serve, with the attorney's guidance.

An empty house needs someone watching it. The early steps are practical:

• Confirm the insurance still covers the home, since some policies limit coverage when a house sits empty.
• Keep the utilities on so the house can be shown and maintained.
• Change or secure the locks, and arrange for mail and deliveries.
• Keep up with the yard and any obvious maintenance.

We walk the home, help make sure it is secure, and can coordinate trusted clean-out and repair vendors when the personal representative or trustee wants them. Our process page covers this as protecting the house while you wait.

Much of the paperwork can often be signed where you are. Listing and purchase documents are commonly signed electronically, and escrow can usually arrange for closing documents to be signed before a notary in your state. In a probate under full authority, if every heir signs a waiver of the Notice of Proposed Action, escrow can close without waiting the 15 days, and those waivers can be signed wherever each heir lives.

Escrow in a probate sale also needs certified copies of the court's Letters and orders, which the attorney provides. Allow a little extra time for anything that travels by mail or courier, and ask escrow early how they prefer to handle signatures from out of state.

Distance makes information matter more. At Rooster Homes, we have an in-house Matterport camera, so the family can walk through a 3D tour of the home from anywhere, and so can buyers. Once there is authority to sell, the work starts the same day.

After every showing and open house, the personal representative or trustee receives a real, specific update: who came, what they said, and what it means. Weekly updates continue through closing. With your permission, the same updates go to the attorney and to other heirs, so no one is waiting on a phone call to know where things stand. Our process page describes how those updates work.

A few financial questions come up often for out-of-state families. In a probate, the money from the sale stays in the estate until the court approves distribution, after the creditor claim period. Heirs often receive a stepped-up tax basis equal to the home's value at the date of death, which can reduce capital gains tax on a sale soon after. And because Proposition 19 limits when an inherited home keeps a parent's property tax base, a home that no heir moves into is usually reassessed.

California may also require income tax withholding from the sale at closing unless an exemption applies, such as the home having been your parent's principal residence, and escrow will ask about it. These are questions for a CPA, and for the attorney where the estate is concerned. Raise them early so there are no surprises at closing.

Selling a parent's home from across the country can feel like a lot to hold. It becomes much more manageable when the steps are laid out and a local team is handling the house. Brandon S. Arlington holds the Certified Probate & Trust Specialist designation, and we work alongside the estate's attorney so the legal side and the house move together, whether you are in Los Feliz or thousands of miles away.

If you are settling a Los Feliz home from out of state, we are glad to walk you through what the next few months could look like. Start a confidential conversation by phone, whenever it suits you.