What Do I Do With My Parents’ House After They Pass Away?
First confirm who legally owns the home now, whether there is a mortgage, and whether probate or another estate process is required. Handling a deceased parent's home involves both practical and legal steps, and the process looks different depending on how the property was owned.
The first step: determining how the property was held
If the home was held in a living trust, it typically avoids probate entirely and can be transferred or sold according to the trust's terms relatively quickly. If it wasn't in a trust, it generally needs to go through probate, the court process of validating a will and distributing assets, which can take anywhere from a few months to over a year.
Options once ownership is resolved
Heirs can choose to sell the property, move in themselves, or rent it out. If multiple siblings inherit jointly, all parties typically need to agree on the chosen path, or a legal process may be needed to resolve disagreements.
Handling the home's contents
Clearing out decades of belongings is often one of the more emotionally and logistically demanding parts of the process, and many families budget several weeks to a few months for sorting through possessions before a home is ready to sell or rent.
Getting the home appraised before deciding
An independent appraisal, separate from any real estate agent's market opinion, gives heirs an objective starting value to work from when deciding whether to sell, rent, or divide the property among multiple heirs, and it's also often required for tax purposes to establish the stepped-up basis discussed elsewhere.