Every year we buy houses from families in Mobile and Baldwin County who inherited a property they don't want to keep. The questions are almost always the same, so here are the answers in one place.
Do I need probate?
It depends on how the house was titled. If the deceased owned it jointly with a right of survivorship (common between spouses), it passes to the survivor automatically and no probate is needed for the house. If it was in a living trust, the trustee can sell it. If it was in the deceased's name alone, which is the most common situation, it usually has to go through probate court before it can be sold.
In Alabama, probate is handled by the probate court in the county where the person lived. With a valid will, the process is usually a few months. Without a will, the court appoints an administrator and follows the state's rules on who inherits, which takes longer.
Can I sell during probate?
Yes, you can sign a purchase contract while probate is open. The closing has to wait until the court has granted the personal representative authority to sell, or until the estate is closed and the deed is in the heirs' names. We regularly put inherited houses under contract early and wait for the court. It lets the family lock in a price and stop worrying.
Heirs' property
In older neighborhoods around Mobile, it's common for a house to have passed down for two or three generations without anyone ever opening probate. The result is a house legally owned by a dozen cousins, some of whom have never seen it. This is called heirs' property, and it can still be sold, but it takes a title attorney to trace who the owners are and get everyone to sign. We've worked through several of these and can recommend attorneys who handle them.
Multiple heirs who disagree
Everyone with an ownership interest has to agree to the sale. A written cash offer with a fixed closing date and no repairs is often what breaks a stalemate, because no single heir has to front money or manage a listing. At closing, the title company splits the proceeds according to the estate, so nobody has to handle anyone else's share.
Taxes
This is the part most people get wrong. When you inherit a house, your tax basis is stepped up to the fair market value on the date of death. If you sell soon after for close to that value, there's little or no capital gain, and little or no tax. Selling a house your parent bought for $40,000 in 1985 for $150,000 today usually does not create a $110,000 taxable gain. Confirm with a CPA, but for most heirs this is good news.
Alabama has no inheritance tax, and the federal estate tax only applies to very large estates.
The house is full of stuff
Take what matters. Leave the rest. We buy inherited houses with everything still inside and handle the cleanout after closing. This alone saves families weeks.
The house needs work
Deferred maintenance is normal on an inherited house, especially one where an elderly parent lived alone for years. We buy as-is and price the repairs into a written offer you can see. No inspections, no repair requests, no contractors.
If you've inherited a house in Mobile or Baldwin County, call us. We'll walk you through what's needed and give you a number, whether or not probate is finished.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to an Alabama attorney and a CPA about your situation.