No matter how young or old you are, if you inherited a house after the loss of your parents it is heartbreaking. If you become the head of the family after the demise of your parents, the responsibility falls on you to guide the family through the grief and the headaches of settling the estate if you intend to sell off your deceased parents’ house.
However, you need to handle any inheritance disagreements that might erupt into full-blown disputes.
Here are some examples of notable major inherited house disputes.
Aretha Franklin
Legendary singer Aretha Franklin died at the age of 76 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Although she didn’t own a huge business empire, her significant value generated substantial income even after her death.
Aretha died without leaving a will or a trust but the discovery of two handwritten notes in her home put the future of her estate flying high, and this led to a contentious battle between her sons.
Michael Jackson
At the death of the King of Pop in 2009, shockwaves were felt around the world that led to emotional tributes and flash mobs from his fans and the music industry.
It was believed Jackson didn’t leave a will and this brought uncertainty about the future of his estate. This led to Katherine Jackson filing a petition allowing her to take charge of her son’s estate.
Prince
Legendary singer Prince died at age 57 in April 2016. He also died without leaving a will which led to uncertainty about the future of his estate. Through Court filings, his estate was assessed to be worth at least $200 million.
Jimi Hendrix
The popular singer-musician had died in 1970 but the feud over control of his $80-million estate continued long after. In fact, the feud lasted more than 30 years after his death among his siblings.
Bob Marley
The Jamaican singer-songwriter international musical and cultural icon died of cancer in 1981 without leaving a will.
We also have names like Kurt Cobain, Sonny Bono, and more. The main point of here is legal courtroom battles are costly and also time-consuming, as in the cases of the names mentioned above. Therefore If you inherit a house you should understand exactly how the house will pass into your hand. This is necessary because it will reduce some of the stress when you plan to sell inherited house.
These are the simple step-by-step ways of an inherited house;
- by a transfer on death deed
- through the probate process
- via a living trust.
Transfer on death deed
This is the ownership of an inherited home by an easy simple transfer. This can be seen in the movie: the transfer on death deed. This is also known as the beneficiary deed.
This deed gives the right to inherit the property directly and instantly with any hassle and expense of a probate. With this deed, all you need to do is proceed and sell inherited house as soon as you’re ready.
However, the deed type has rules and is only valid in certain states. The laws of these deeds vary from state to state. In some states all that is needed is a completed transfer on death deed to avoid any probate. Parents must bequeath the property to the heir in a validated will, or the transfer on death deed is considered meaningless.
Finally, if you avoid probate with a transfer on death deed, paying taxes on the inherited will set in. (more on this later).
Inherited Probate of a House
People believe that inheriting a property is as simple as listening to an official reading of a will. In reality, an inherited home via a will is usually subject to a long, complex probate process.
So, what is probate? Probate is defined as a court-supervised process that oversees the dispensation of an inherited estate, including the sale of the house.
This process grants the proper people the right to and responsibility for the estate, and so debts get paid as part of the process.
Source: (Inheritance Funding)
Probate laws vary from state to state, except the complex process will take time, from several months to a year or two.
Depending on the laws of the state in your home, the court plays a major role in when and how the home is sold during probate.
Living trust of an Inherited House
When you sell inherited house, it is simple if the house was inherited via a living trust.
A living trust is a document that streamlines the management and inheritance of all inherited assets. The document identifies your parents as the trustees and you as the beneficiary.
If you inherit a house at a time where there is a living trust in place, you can avoid some estate taxes, bypass probate, and it sets you up to sell the home immediately.
In certain scenarios with multiple heirs, a trust is usually considered as the best fit.
When a parent places their home in a living trust, the trust must dictate which heir makes the decisions regarding the sale of the house.
SUMMARY
With the knowledge of what has been discussed in the article.If You inherited a house and you are still mourning the demise of your parents.
The chances are you will have little energy to do much more than cleaning up the place to desired satisfaction of a buyer.
And maybe making a re-modeling of the property for a sale. That may be all you need to do or you can decide to sell “as is”
Selling your parents’ house as-is and getting a little less for the place isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Plus, the disclosure rules are lenient for an inherited house because the heir was never the primary resident and had no first-hand knowledge about the issues of the house.
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