Dealing with an estate as seller of a property can pose certain obstacles depending on how the estate has been handled. The first thing is to find out whether the estate representative has been working with an attorney for the estate. There is a good chance that the attorney for the estate has taken many of the necessary steps to get ahead of the estate related title issues that could pop up down the road.

Regardless of whether someone has contacted an attorney for the estate or not, you will need to confirm that the individual you are speaking with is the legal representative for the estate. Often times an individual might be listed as the personal representative in a will, which is a good indication that you are speaking with the right person. Unfortunately, the powers of a personal representative to sell real estate need to be conferred on the personal representative through the probate court and an attorney will be required to represent the personal representative in court for this purpose. So long story short, if your customer is the estate representative and they have not yet contacted a probate attorney, you are probably at the very early stages of any real estate transaction. Remember that only the properly authorized legal representative for an estate is able to enter an enforceable contract with a prospective Buyer so having a customer enter a contract before this has been determined is not advisable.

Once you are certain you are dealing with the legally appointed estate representative and you have a signed contract, you are going to want to contact your title company and let them know the name and contact information for the estate attorney. The title company is likely going to need a certified copy of the death certificate for the deceased seller, a court order authorizing the sale of the property in question and a court order determining the homestead status of the property to be sold. If the property is the homestead property of the deceased individual then quit claim deeds will likely be needed from various parties in order to sell the property. It is important to get ahead of this as early as possible and to make sure that the contract provides notice that the sale is contingent upon court approval through the probate court so that the Seller has an out if the court does not approve the sale in question.

Open and often communication between the parties, their agents, attorneys and the title company is especially important when dealing with an estate. The process could be longer than a standard contract closing period however with everyone’s cooperation the process should still remain smooth for all involved.