How to Sell Your Parents’ House After They Pass Away

When a parent dies, the house rarely waits until the family is ready. Bills keep arriving, the place sits empty and someone has to decide what happens next. This guide is for adult children selling a parent’s home in Alameda County. It walks through a practical order of steps, from the first paperwork to the sale, including what changes when there’s a reverse mortgage.

Gather death certificates and the will

Order several certified copies of the death certificate. The title company, the county assessor, the insurer, banks and any mortgage servicer may each want one. The funeral home usually orders the first set, and the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder issues more for deaths that happened in the county. Close relatives and the estate’s representative can get authorized copies.

Next, find the original will and any trust documents. California gives whoever holds the original will 30 days after learning of the death to deliver it to the superior court clerk in the county where the estate would be handled, unless a probate case has already been filed.

One filing is easy to miss. The county assessor needs a Change in Ownership Statement for the death of an owner (form BOE-502-D) for each property, with a certified death certificate and a copy of the will or trust. The Alameda County Assessor asks for it within 150 days of the death, or when the estate inventory is filed in probate.

Find out how the house was held

Who can sell, and whether a court gets involved, depends on how title was held when your parent died. The most recent recorded deed shows it, and the Clerk-Recorder can provide a copy.

How the house was held	Who can sell	Court case?
Living trust	The successor trustee	Usually not
Joint tenancy with a living co-owner	The surviving owner	No, but paperwork is recorded
Transfer-on-death deed	The named beneficiary	No, but paperwork is recorded
Parent’s name alone, their main home, worth $750,000 or less	The heirs, once the court approves	A simpler court petition
Parent’s name alone, any other case	The court-appointed executor or administrator	Usually, probate

The $750,000 petition is newer. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, heirs can ask the court to transfer a parent’s primary residence worth up to $750,000 without a full probate, once 40 days have passed since the death. An estate attorney can say whether it fits your family.

In a full probate, only the executor or administrator can sign a sale, and some sales need a judge to confirm them. Our page on selling an inherited house explains how probate sales work with full and limited authority.

Protect the house while it sits empty

An empty house is exposed to leaks, break-ins and illegal dumping, and the bills don’t stop. A few steps help:

Call the homeowners insurer, report the death and ask how the policy treats a vacant house. The California Department of Insurance lists losses to a house vacant 60 days or more among the things homeowners policies generally don’t cover, so the estate may need a vacancy policy.
Rekey the locks and remove valuables, papers and medications.
Keep basic utilities on, stop mail from piling up and have someone walk through regularly.
Keep paying property taxes, insurance and any loan, from estate or trust funds where possible, and keep the receipts.

Oakland and Berkeley also tax some vacant properties, with exemptions. Our page on vacant houses covers those rules.

If there’s a mortgage or a reverse mortgage

With a regular mortgage, families usually keep the payments current while the estate is settled and pay the loan off from the sale at closing. The servicer can share account details once you show proof of your right to the home.

A reverse mortgage works differently. For an FHA-insured reverse mortgage, called a HECM, HUD’s rules set out the heirs’ options and deadlines:

The loan becomes due when the last borrower dies. The lender sends the estate or heirs a due-and-payable notice saying they can pay off the loan, sell the house for at least 95% of its appraised value or sign it over to the lender with a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
HUD’s fact sheet for heirs says the loan is to be satisfied within 30 days of the death, but the lender can approve 90-day extensions when the family shows it is actively selling or arranging a payoff.
The lender generally has to start foreclosure within six months of the death. If the family documents that it is actively marketing the house, the lender can ask HUD for up to two 90-day extensions.
If the loan balance is more than the house is worth, the estate or heirs can sell for at least 95% of the current appraised value, and the lender accepts the net proceeds as satisfaction of the loan.
Until title is transferred, property taxes and insurance remain the estate’s responsibility.

Call the servicer early, tell them the family’s plan and get the deadlines in writing.

Taxes: Prop 19 and the stepped-up basis

Two tax rules shape most decisions about an inherited house.

Property tax. Under Proposition 19, a child keeps a parent’s assessed value only if the house was the parent’s main home and becomes the child’s main home, with a homeowners’ exemption claim filed within one year. Even then, the break is capped. For transfers from February 16, 2025, through February 15, 2027, any market value above the parent’s taxable value plus $1,044,586 is added to the assessment. If no heir moves in, the county reassesses the house at market value, which can mean a much larger tax bill for a family planning to keep it as a rental. The exclusion claim (form BOE-19-P) is due within three years of the death, or before the house is sold to someone else, whichever comes first.

Capital gains. An inherited house generally takes a tax basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. If the family sells soon after, there may be little taxable gain. In probate, the estate inventory lists the house at its value as of the date of death; with a trust, a date-of-death appraisal documents the same number. A CPA can confirm how the rules apply to your family.

Deciding how to sell

Once everyone with a say agrees, the usual paths are:

List with an agent. This usually brings the most money for a house in good shape, but it typically means clearing it out, fixing what buyers will flag and weeks of showings.
One heir buys out the others. That takes an agreed value and, often, a new loan for the heir who keeps it.
Sell as-is to a cash buyer. It’s faster and simpler, with no cleanout or repairs, but cash offers are usually below full market value.

Clearing out a lifetime of belongings is often the biggest job. Our guide to what to do with everything in the house covers estate sales, donations and hazardous waste drop-off in Alameda County.

If a direct sale fits, we buy inherited houses across Alameda County as they are. We can make a written cash offer, usually within 24 hours, before probate is finished, and close once someone has authority to sign: in as little as 3 days once title is clear, or later to fit the court or trust timeline. The family takes what matters and leaves the rest. Compare our number with what an agent expects the house to net after repairs, cleanout and commissions, and choose what works for your family.

Sources

General information about California rules as of October 3, 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws change and every situation is different, so check the details with an attorney, CPA or other professional.