Full question:
My daughter and I recently inherited a house we don't want from my mother and have an offer on it. What do we need to do to make the transaction legal with the title company?
- Category: Wills and Estates
- Subcategory: Probate
- Date:
- State: Oregon
Answer:
The answer will depend on whether the mother's estate has been probated and whose name the title is now in. To dispose of the real property interests of the decedent, the executor executes an executor's deed or fiduciary deed. For example, if a person who is a joint tenant dies, the executor of the estate can execute a fiduciary deed transferring their interest to the remaining joint tenants, or other person entitled to receive the interest under the will. If you were named on the deed as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the property passes automatically to the survivors outside of probate and you may ask the county recorder where the land is located for local procedures to transfer title to the survivors. Typically, a copy of the death certificate is required.
If the title is in your names, you may sign a new deed to transfer it to the buyer. If the title is still in the mother's name, it will need to be put into the sellers' names in order to sell it. In cases where the decedent didn't own property valued at more than a certain amount, which varies by state, the estate may go through a small estate administration process, rather than the formal probate process. In Oregon, the estate must be worth no more than $275,000, of which no more than $200,000 can be real estate, to qualify for the summary procedure..
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
