Have you ever heard of a house going into probate after the owner dies? Probate houses are a lot more common than you probably think, but most people don’t know how to proceed if they’re unexpectedly responsible for a house in probate. Here are a few details that will help you to understand what happens to a house when it goes into probate.
What is a Probate House?
A probate house is a house that hasn’t been correctly or legally passed down to an inheritor or beneficiary after the owner’s death. Despite the former owner’s best intentions, some legal rules and restrictions dictate how a house can be passed on to a new owner. Unfortunately, a will or verbal testament won’t cut it. You must have a transfer-on-death deed, living trust, community property law, or joint ownership to prove that you are the legal inheritor of a house. Without these legal documents, the house will go into probate, which means that it will be temporarily legally cared for by the probate court.
Legal Processes and House Care
If you want to reobtain ownership of the house in probate, you’re going to need to go to probate court to settle legal matters. You’ll need to file a petition in court and work with the lawyers there to gain ownership of the house. Unfortunately, these processes can be quite complicated, depending on the state in which the former owner left their legal documents. It might even take you months or years to finish the probate processes in court. In the meantime, make sure that the house is well taken care of and maintained to prevent any robberies or issues in the future.
Selling the House for Cash
If you’re feeling stressed out by the prospect of going to probate court and maintaining the probate house for an undefined amount of time, you might want to look for other options. One of the best options available to you is to sell the probate house for cash. Cash buyers are some of the only buyers that will purchase a house in probate due to the legal complications with which it is involved. A cash buyer will help you to quickly and easily sell your house by getting you a cash offer in 24 hours, walking you through their buying requirements, and closing the sale quickly and easily. You likely won’t even have to list, clean, or advertise the home to sell it, so this could be the perfect situation for you.
So, if you ever happen to have the responsibility to care for a probate house, remember the proceedings in this article. You can attend probate court and take care of legal matters while maintaining the house, or you can sell it for cash. A cash buyer will help you to sell your house quickly and easily, and that cash payment will bless your family in the future.
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