Have you ever wondered what it means when a house goes into probate? Many homeowners aren’t familiar with the probate process because they’ve properly managed the home inheritance process. Here are a few more details to help you understand what a probate house is and why it is so important to understand.
What is Probate?
When a house hasn’t gone through the proper, legal inheritance process and cannot be inherited by a beneficiary, it must go into probate. To be more specific, a home must have a joint ownership, community property law, living trust, or transfer-on-death deed to be legally inherited.
Sometimes, a homeowner intends for their home to be inherited but doesn’t know how to legally prepare for that transfer of ownership. The legal probate process analyzes the will and intentions of the former owner and determines the transfer of administration and ownership of the home to the new beneficiary. To take care of this legal process, you’ll need to go to probate court over a few months (or even a few years) and get legal help from the lawyers there.
Caring for the Home
If you are supposed to be the inheritor of a probate home and are trying to regain ownership, make sure that you’re caring for the home in the meantime. This is especially important if you’re not currently living in the home. Maintaining, cleaning, and organizing the home will help to maintain its equity and value. It can also make the home look like it is lived-in, which will protect it from being broken into by a robber. If you aren’t capable of caring for the house at present, consider hiring someone to clean and maintain the home.
Selling Instead
Depending on your life circumstances, it might be impossible to go to probate court or care for the home long-term while you’re sorting out the probate process. In this case, it might be more beneficial to sell the home. However, only certain home buyers will purchase a home in probate due to the legal complications attached to it.
For example, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a traditional buyer that will purchase a probate home, but most cash buyers will buy a home in probate. You can contact a cash buyer and ask them to calculate a cash offer for you to see how much the home is worth. When you’re selling the house to a cash buyer, you normally won’t have to repair, inspect, or empty it, which can make the selling process much easier.
So, if you have just discovered that you’ve inherited a house in probate, remember this article. To properly inherit the home, you should go to the probate court and care for the home in the meantime. If you want to sell the home instead, sell to a cash buyer to enjoy the easiest selling process and greater financial stability.
Do you have a probate home that you want to sell? Click here to get a cash offer today from NH Home Buyers LLC.
