For professionals
For fiduciaries, trust administrators, and estate attorneys
A real estate partner who knows the court steps, plans the sale around your calendar, and reports without being chased.
What we take off your desk
The whole house side, from the deed to the keys
You handle the estate. Brandon S. Arlington, Certified Probate & Trust Specialist, handles the property, and keeps you and the attorney informed at every step.
- Looking at the recorded deed with you and the attorney at the start, so the path is clear early.
- Securing the property, walking it with you, and flagging insurance for a vacant home.
- Coordinating clean-out, locksmith, and repair vendors, only with your written approval.
- Pricing on the home's real condition, with interior photos and repair estimates you can pass to the probate referee when the appraisal and the house disagree.
- Photography, an in-house Matterport 3D tour, marketing, and showings.
- A real, specific update after every showing and open house, and a weekly written status, to you and, when you want, to the attorney.
- Offers written on the correct probate or trust forms, delivered as a clean package for the Notice of Proposed Action or the petition to confirm sale.
- Working with escrow and title so the court papers or trust documents they need are in hand before closing day.
What to hand off
What to send to get started
Whatever you have is enough to begin. These are the items that let us move fastest.
- For a probate: the Order for Probate and the Letters, and whether authority is full or limited under the Independent Administration of Estates Act.
- For a trust: the trust or a certification of trust, and a certified death certificate.
- The attorney's contact information, and any hearing dates already set.
- How to access the property, whether anyone is living there, and who holds keys.
- Anything known about liens, notices, open permits, tenants, or needed repairs.
- Your reporting preferences: how often, to whom, and in what form.
Timelines
Coordinating the sale with court dates
We plan backward from the dates that matter to you. Listing preparation happens while the petition is pending, so the home is ready to go on the market the day Letters issue. In a probate, an exclusive listing runs for no more than 90 days at a time, and we set the term and any extension with that in mind.
Under full authority, we deliver the accepted offer as a clean package the attorney can attach to the Notice of Proposed Action, and we set the escrow timeline to respect the 15-day objection period, or a written waiver or consent when everyone entitled to the notice signs one.
Under limited authority, we confirm the price against the referee's appraisal from within the past year before an offer is accepted, time the notice of sale, when one is required, with the attorney, and prepare the buyer and their agent for the confirmation hearing: the deposit, the overbid increments, and what happens if they are outbid.
In a trust administration, there is no court calendar, but the trustee's own notice duties to beneficiaries and heirs still have a timeline. We coordinate the sale schedule with the attorney so the two fit together.
Working together
How referral relationships work
A referral is a trust, and it stays yours. When you introduce a client, you remain the first to know what is happening: every update that goes to the personal representative or trustee can come to you too.
The listing agreement and its commission are agreed in writing with the personal representative or trustee, and in a probate the commission is part of what the court reviews when a sale goes to confirmation. What we offer a referral partner is simple: your client is looked after, the file moves, and you hear about it without asking.
This site provides general real estate information, not legal advice. Consult a California attorney about your situation.