What to Do With an Inherited House: 5 Options

A calm framework for comparing authority, cost, workload, timing and family fit before deciding what happens to the property.

There is no single right answer to what to do with an inherited house. Five paths are realistic: sell it, keep it for someone's personal use, rent it, arrange a buyout so one person ends up with it, or — in narrow circumstances, and only after legal and tax review — disclaim it before accepting any benefit from it. This page is for the three people who usually have to decide — the person acting for the estate, the co-heirs, and a surviving spouse or joint owner — and the rules that settle it come from the state where the person lived and, for the house itself, the state and county where the house sits. Which path fits depends less on the housing market than on four facts: who legally owns the property right now and who is recognized to act for it, what is owed against it, what it costs to carry each month, and whether the people involved can carry out the plan. You are allowed to take the time to establish those facts. A decision made before they are clear is the one most likely to be undone later.

The Four Gates come before the choice, in this order. Gate 1 — authority and title: being named as executor in a will is not the same as having authority. Gate 2 — mortgage and liens: a loan does not disappear when the borrower dies. Gate 3 — insurance and occupancy: a home that is now empty, or occupied by someone not on the deed, can create coverage and legal problems within weeks. Gate 4 — co-owners: what everyone wants and who legally owns what are separate questions.

The rule worth keeping is this: do not choose a path until you know who can act, how the property is titled, what it costs to carry, and whether the family can execute the plan.

Your first step this week is factual control, not a transaction. If you do only one thing, pull the recorded deed from the county recorder's or land records office: it is a public record, it is usually cheap, and it often answers who owns the home now. Then make sure the home is locked and insured, put the paperwork in one folder, and make two calls — the servicer, and the insurer, to report the home's current occupancy. None of that commits anyone to a path.

Where to start, based on your situation.

• If you have not yet seen the recorded deed or the trust document — start there. If the home passes by joint ownership, a transfer-on-death deed, or a trust, that document — not the will — generally decides who owns it now.
• If the deed shows the home in the decedent's name alone — start with the probate court in the county where the person lived. The clerk's procedural information, the court's forms, and most state self-help pages are free.
• If there is a loan on the home, or the home is now empty — start with the mortgage servicer and the insurer. Both are free calls, and both can be made before authority is settled.
• If one person wants to keep the home and others do not — start with an independent value and written terms, not a handshake. That is a buyout, and it works only when value, interests, debt, and financing are documented.
• If authority or title is disputed, if the estate may owe more than it holds, if the loan is a reverse mortgage or already in default, if an occupant may have rights, if the person who died received Medicaid long-term care, or if anyone is considering a disclaimer — don't choose yet. Pause and get professional review.
• In every one of these cases — confirm procedure, forms, and any filing deadline with the probate court clerk in the decedent's county, and involve a probate attorney licensed in that state, or an estate CPA, before you sign a listing agreement, lease, deed, or buyout agreement.

What needs attention now, and what can wait.

Timing	What belongs here	The boundary
Now	Secure keys and access; prevent weather, water, or heating damage; find out who is living there; locate the deed, will, trust, and any court paperwork; identify the insurer and the mortgage servicer; keep receipts and a log.	Treat a date as a deadline only when an official source and your own facts support it. Most of this week's work is protective, not final.
Soon	Confirm the ownership path and who is recognized to act; request the payoff and lien information in writing; ask the insurer how the current occupancy affects the policy; gather tax, HOA, utility, repair, and value information; talk with co-owners.	Do not transfer, distribute, or contract for the property before authority and the estate's obligations are clear.
Later	Carry out the sale, keep, rent, or buyout; handle repairs and contents; complete the estate's tax filings and accounting; distribute only after the required review.	Detailed execution belongs to the guide or professional handling that task.
Only if applicable	A probate petition; ancillary administration for property in another state; a reverse-mortgage response; a qualified disclaimer; an occupancy process; an insolvent estate; a Medicaid estate recovery claim; court approval of a sale; dispute resolution.	These are fact- and jurisdiction-specific. None of them applies to every estate.

If the practical work is competing with everything else right now, our grief resources page lists free support that does not ask anything of you.

On this page

• Compare the five paths, plus hold and no administration
• Confirm who can act and protect the property
• Use the inherited-house decision worksheet
• When each path may fit
• Situations that change the next step
• When to pause and get help
• Debts, the mortgage, and what you personally owe
• Questions people ask about inherited houses

Compare the five paths, plus hold and no administration

The table compares the same ten criteria across the five paths and the two positions that belong beside them — holding deliberately, and the case where this property needs no administration at all. Read it as a comparison of demands, not a ranking.

Criterion	Sell	Keep for personal use	Rent	Buyout	Disclaim	Hold deliberately	No administration needed
Authority prerequisite	Recognized authority to sign a listing and a deed	Valid transfer of title, or clear right to occupy	Valid title or authority, plus the right to lease	Authority plus a documented transfer of interests	Legal and tax review before any benefit is accepted	The lowest of all seven — no appointment is needed to insure a house or keep the heat on	Already met: the deed, trust, or state transfer procedure supplies it
Immediate cash effect	Converts the property to cash at closing	None; the household absorbs the cost	Income only after the unit is ready and leased	Requires financing or estate liquidity from the buying party	No economic benefit may be taken	Negative; this is the most expensive way to buy time	None by itself; the new owner then chooses a path
Carrying cost exposure	Continues until closing	Ongoing and permanent	Ongoing, with vacancy and turnover gaps	Continues until the transfer completes	Not applicable once effective	Runs at the full monthly figure	Falls on whoever now holds title
Time and workload	Preparation, contents, listing, closing	Long-term ownership and upkeep	Management, compliance, tenant issues	Valuation, financing, documents, closing	Strict timing and conduct rules, handled with counsel	Small	Recording steps and whatever the title company or lender asks for
Family agreement needed	On the sale and on the estate's plan	On use, expenses, and fairness to others	On management, income, and reserves	On value, credits, and payment terms	None; the outcome is set by law and the governing document	Usually low	None; the transfer mechanism already decided it
Mortgage and liens	Paid or satisfied from proceeds	Must be handled with the servicer and kept current	Must be handled with the servicer; occupancy terms matter	Payoff or assumption must be resolved before transfer	Handled outside your control once the interest passes	Must be kept current or resolved while you wait	Not cleared; they follow the property to the recipient
Tax review trigger	Sale gain or loss against inherited basis	Basis and future gain on a later sale	Conversion to rental changes tax treatment	Value and credits can raise gift and basis questions	Federal transfer-tax rules govern whether it qualifies	None until something is sold or converted	Basis and any later sale still need review
How hard to reverse	Permanent once closed	Reversible, at the cost of time and carrying expense	Reversible after a lease ends or is bought out	Difficult once the deed and money move	Irrevocable	Completely reversible	Not a choice to reverse; it is a description of how title already moved
Free or self-help version	None for the sale itself; the clerk's procedure, the deed record, and the written payoff are free	None for the transfer; the recorder's deed record and the court's self-help pages are free	None; state and local landlord rules are published free	None for the transfer; the deed record and the written payoff are free	None — this is the one path with no do-it-yourself version	This is the free position; it costs only the carrying cost	This is the free route; the deed record is a public record
Personal liability exposure for the person acting	Selling below value without documentation, or before authority	Occupying without consent, court approval, or a documented rent	Estate funds and rent commingled; accounting gaps	Self-dealing where the buyer is also the fiduciary	Low for the estate; the disclaimant's own tax position needs advice	Letting the wait become drift, and the cost compound unrecorded	No fiduciary role here, but in some states a recipient of non-probate property can be reached by the decedent's unsecured creditors — varies by state

Read the table by elimination rather than by attraction. Any path whose authority prerequisite you cannot currently satisfy is not available yet — a later decision, not a rejected one. Among what remains, the honest comparison is between the monthly cost of holding the property and the workload each path creates for the person who will actually do it, usually one family member. The highest projected number rarely wins on its own, because sale price, rental income, and buyout value are estimates until a buyer, tenant, or lender commits. The carrying cost is not an estimate, and it continues every month whichever path is eventually chosen.

Two of the seven columns deserve a sentence of their own. Hold deliberately is a real position: hold when authority is not yet recognized, when the payoff or lien picture is incomplete, when a co-owner needs time, or when a professional review is pending — then write down what you are waiting for and roughly when you expect it. Holding for a stated reason with an end condition is a decision; holding because no one wants the conversation is the drift the table warns about. No administration needed is worth checking before any of the others: where the home passed by survivorship deed, by a funded trust, by a transfer-on-death deed, or under a state's simplified transfer procedure, none of the five paths waits on a court appointment. The titling table below is how you find out.

Confirm who can act and protect the property

Gate 1 — authority and title. Two separate questions come first. Who owns the property now? And who is recognized to act for it? A will names a person for the role of executor, but in most states that nomination becomes authority only when the probate court appoints the person and issues letters — the document institutions ask for by name. The court-appointed person is the personal representative: called an executor where a will names them, an administrator where no will does. A trustee's authority comes from the trust instrument and state law; a surviving joint owner's comes from the deed. Until one of those exists, a title company, lender, insurer, or buyer's attorney can be expected to say no.

Jurisdiction matters more here than anywhere else on this page. The decedent's state of domicile generally governs the estate, but real property is generally governed by the law of the state where it sits — so a home in a different state from where the person lived can require its own ancillary process, on that state's rules and that county's forms. Nothing here substitutes for what the probate court in the relevant county requires. For the wider administration sequence, see the executor checklist.

Documents and contacts to gather. Keep one list in one folder: the recorded deed or a title report; the will, trust, and any court letters; certified death certificates, ordered as institutions request them; the latest mortgage statement and servicer contact; the insurance declarations page and agent contact; property tax and HOA statements; utility and security accounts; and a note of who is living in the home and on what basis.

How the home is titled decides which route applies

Learning which category the property falls into determines whether the court is involved at all. A will controls only what passes through the probate estate; it does not override a survivorship deed, a beneficiary designation, or a trust. That is why the recorded deed is worth pulling from the county recorder's or land records office early — it is a public record, and it often answers in one page what weeks of conversation cannot.

How the home is held	What the category covers	Who is recognized to act, and is the court involved?	What it changes for timeline, cost, and accountability
Trust asset	Deed in the name of a trust the decedent created or funded	The successor trustee, under the trust and state law; usually no court	Often faster and more private, but the trustee still owes duties to beneficiaries
Joint ownership with survivorship	Deed to two or more owners with survivorship, including tenancy by the entirety where recognized	The surviving owner, on the deed's terms; usually no court for the property	Generally established outside probate, though lenders and insurers still need notice
Transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed	A recorded deed, only in states that authorize it, naming who takes at death	The named beneficiary, following that state's recording and notice steps	Avoids probate for the property there; creditor and procedural rules still apply
Simplified or small-estate transfer	Some states let real property transfer by affidavit or a short court petition when the estate is under that state's threshold	Depends on the state — often an heir or beneficiary directly, sometimes with a short court step	Can be far faster and cheaper than full administration; eligibility varies widely by state
Tenancy in common share	The decedent owned a fractional interest alongside others	The estate or trust holds the decedent's share; co-owners keep theirs	Only that share moves; a sale usually needs all owners or a court process
Probate estate asset	Deed in the decedent's name alone, no survivorship or beneficiary feature	A personal representative appointed by the court; the court is involved	Court timetable and filings; the representative answers to the court and beneficiaries

These categories are standard across the country, but whether a given form of ownership exists — and what it requires — is set by the decedent's state and sometimes the county. This page does not verify any individual state's rule beyond the transfer-on-death table below. If the simplified route may apply, four things decide it in every state that offers one: the dollar limit, whether that limit measures the gross or the net estate, whether real property qualifies at all — many simplified procedures cover personal property only — and any waiting period after the death. Our guide to small estate affidavit rules by state carries those figures. If the property looks like a probate asset, how probate works explains that route.

Which states allow a transfer-on-death deed

This table answers one narrow question: does the jurisdiction authorize a recorded deed that passes real property to a named beneficiary at death, without probate? It matters because a home that passed this way may never enter the estate at all. Skip it if the deed you pulled already gave you your answer.

Three cautions before you read a row. First, availability is not the same as existence: the decisive fact is whether a transfer-on-death deed was actually signed and recorded on this property before the death, and only the county land records office can tell you that. Second, a transfer-on-death deed does not by itself clear the mortgage, liens, or property taxes, and whether it clears a Medicaid estate recovery claim depends on how that state defines the recoverable estate. Third, receiving property under one is usually not automatic: states commonly require the beneficiary to record an affidavit or give notice after the death, and some attach a time limit whose consequence can be that the property falls back into the estate. Ask the county land records office what the beneficiary must file and by when, and where a deadline may apply, ask an attorney in that state — this is the part of the process people most often learn about too late.

Jurisdiction	Transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed for real property	Applies to deaths on or after	Statute confirmed for this page
Alabama	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Alaska	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Alaska Stat. § 13.48.010 et seq.
Arizona	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	A.R.S. § 33-405
Arkansas	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Ark. Code § 18-12-608
California	TOD or beneficiary deed available	January 1, 2016; part repeals January 1, 2032 unless extended	Cal. Prob. Code § 5600
Colorado	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	C.R.S. § 15-15-404
Connecticut	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Delaware	TOD or beneficiary deed available	December 4, 2025	25 Del. C. ch. 2
District of Columbia	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	D.C. Code § 19-604.13
Florida	No TOD deed statute — enhanced life estate ("Lady Bird") deed used in practice	—	—
Georgia	TOD or beneficiary deed available	July 1, 2024; chapter amended April 22, 2026	O.C.G.A. ch. 44-17, as amended by 2026 HB 413
Hawaii	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 527-13
Idaho	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Illinois	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Statute not confirmed for this page — check 755 ILCS 27 with the Illinois General Assembly
Indiana	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Ind. Code § 32-17-14-11
Iowa	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Kansas	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	K.S.A. § 59-3501
Kentucky	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Louisiana	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Maine	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	18-C M.R.S. § 6-405
Maryland	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Massachusetts	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Michigan	No TOD deed statute — enhanced life estate ("Lady Bird") deed used in practice	—	—
Minnesota	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Minn. Stat. § 507.071
Mississippi	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Statute not confirmed for this page — check with the Mississippi Legislature
Missouri	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025
Montana	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Mont. Code Ann. § 72-6-415
Nebraska	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 76-3401 to 76-3423
Nevada	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	NRS 111.655 to 111.699
New Hampshire	TOD or beneficiary deed available	July 1, 2024	N.H. RSA ch. 563-D
New Jersey	No TOD deed statute	—	—
New Mexico	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Statute not confirmed for this page — check NMSA 1978 §§ 45-6-401 et seq. with the New Mexico Legislature
New York	TOD or beneficiary deed available	July 19, 2024	N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 424
North Carolina	No TOD deed statute	—	—
North Dakota	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Statute not confirmed for this page — check N.D.C.C. ch. 30.1-32.1 with the North Dakota Legislative Branch
Ohio	TOD available — by transfer-on-death designation affidavit rather than a deed	—	Ohio Rev. Code § 5302.22
Oklahoma	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	58 Okla. Stat. § 1252
Oregon	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	ORS 93.948 to 93.979
Pennsylvania	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Rhode Island	No TOD deed statute	—	—
South Carolina	No TOD deed statute	—	—
South Dakota	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	S.D. Codified Laws ch. 29A-6, part 4
Tennessee	No TOD deed statute	—	—
Texas	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Tex. Est. Code ch. 114
Utah	TOD or beneficiary deed available	May 8, 2018	Utah Code § 75-6-407
Vermont	No TOD deed statute — enhanced life estate ("Lady Bird") deed used in practice	—	—
Virginia	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Va. Code § 64.2-621 et seq.
Washington	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	RCW ch. 64.80
West Virginia	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Statute not confirmed for this page — check W. Va. Code ch. 36 with the West Virginia Legislature
Wisconsin	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Wis. Stat. § 705.15
Wyoming	TOD or beneficiary deed available	—	Wyo. Stat. § 2-18-103

How this table was built, and what it does not tell you. Coverage is all 50 states and the District of Columbia — 34 jurisdictions where a transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed is available, and 17 where it is not. The availability column comes from two dated surveys read on August 3, 2026: the American Bar Association's Uniform Laws Update on the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (September–October 2025) and its 2025 legislative update, cross-checked against Nolo's state list last updated December 22, 2025. Neither is a statute.

Twenty-nine of the 34 available jurisdictions were confirmed on August 3, 2026 against a state legislative site, an official code publisher, or the state's own court forms, and are linked above. Five could not be confirmed for this page and say so in their own cell, with the office to ask named in the cell; a labeled cell means this page did not confirm that statute, not that no statute exists. On that basis the status of the table as a whole is verified with limitation. A dash in the third column means the applicability date was not confirmed here, not that none applies — several states limit their statute to deaths on or after a stated date, which is why the recent enactments carry one. Confirm the current rule with the state's own code and the county land records office before relying on it. Legislatures change these laws often. Next scheduled review: August 2027, or sooner on a known change.

Gate 2 — the mortgage on an inherited house

Contact the servicer early. To release account information a servicer may need proof of your right to the home, which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes can include the executed will, the death certificate, or a letter from the estate's representative, and which varies from state to state (CFPB guidance, page last updated September 2024). Federal servicing rules require servicers to maintain policies reasonably designed to promptly facilitate communication with potential successors in interest after notice of a borrower's death, to identify the documents needed to confirm identity and ownership interest, and to make a confirmation determination promptly (12 CFR 1024.38(b)(1)(vi), current as of August 2026). Being confirmed as a successor in interest is a servicing status: it does not make you the borrower, settle title, or create personal liability for the debt.

Federal law separately lists transfers on which a lender may not exercise a due-on-sale clause, for a loan secured by residential property of fewer than five dwelling units — among them a transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on a joint tenant's death, a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower's death, and a transfer where the borrower's spouse or children become owners (12 U.S.C. §1701j-3(d), text in effect July 2026). That protection is narrower than it sounds: it limits when a lender may call the balance due, it does not erase the debt or make anyone the borrower, and loan type and transfer facts control. Ask the servicer in writing for the payoff as of a stated date, the escrow and delinquency status, whether the loan may be assumed, and its process for a property in an estate. If the loan is a reverse mortgage, the process and timing differ; ask what applies and get legal advice before acting.

Gate 3 — insurance and occupancy

Tell the insurer promptly that the owner has died, and describe the home's current occupancy. Homeowners policies cover the structure, contents, and liability on the policy's terms, and most mortgage lenders require coverage to be maintained (National Association of Insurance Commissioners, reviewed August 2026). Whether that coverage continues once the home is empty is a question for the policy and the insurer rather than a national rule, which is why this call belongs in the first week and not after a claim. No national number of vacant days applies to every policy; that policy and that state's rules control, so ask specifically what changes when a home is vacant or unoccupied, and what endorsement or replacement coverage is available.

While authority is unsettled: do not sign a listing or lease, transfer or distribute the property, remove a lawful occupant or change locks on one, cancel the insurance, stop paying a secured loan without advice, or use the deceased person's accounts or identity to pay bills.

If you are the one acting for the estate

A personal representative or trustee owes duties to the beneficiaries and to the estate's creditors, not to their own preferences — and those duties come with personal financial exposure. Four situations create it most often on a property decision: distributing or transferring the home before the estate's obligations are resolved; paying estate expenses from personal accounts or personal expenses from estate accounts; failing to keep records the beneficiaries and the court can later review; and transacting in the property with yourself.

That last one is worth naming, because it is the ordinary case rather than the unusual one. Most people deciding what happens to an inherited house are both the person acting for the estate and one of the people who will inherit from it. Buying the property from the estate, living in it, or renting it below market is a transaction between you and the people you owe duties to. In many states it requires the informed written consent of the other beneficiaries, court approval, or both. It is not automatically improper — it is automatically a matter to document and, in most cases, to run past a probate attorney licensed in the decedent's state before money or a deed moves.

None of this means an ordinary family executor is in danger. Keeping estate money separate, writing down what you did and why, and not distributing until the estate's obligations are resolved will handle the great majority of it.

Use the inherited-house decision worksheet

This worksheet is a decision aid, not a valuation, appraisal, tax calculation, or legal opinion. Every figure is yours to supply, because commissions, repair costs, property taxes, rents, and insurance are local and quote-based rather than national constants. Fill it in on paper or in a spreadsheet you control; nothing here asks for account, policy, or Social Security numbers. Work in three columns — low, base, and high — and treat the results as illustrative.

Panel	What you fill in	What it produces	What it is not
1. Known facts and authority	Ownership path; whether authority is recognized yet; occupants; loan type and servicer; balance and payoff; other liens; insurance status; property tax and HOA; each person's interest	A list of what is still missing	Not a score, and not a conclusion about who owns the home
2. Monthly carrying cost	Mortgage payment; property tax; insurance; HOA; utilities; security or monitoring; maintenance reserve; management or occupancy costs	A monthly figure, then a three-, six-, and twelve-month total	Not a prediction of how long any path will take
3. Sale scenario	Expected price range; payoff; other liens; seller transaction costs; repairs and contents removal; carrying cost through closing; a tax reserve	A low, base, and high estimated sale net	Not the amount any beneficiary receives
4. Keep or rent scenario	Carrying cost; expected rent; vacancy allowance; management; maintenance and capital reserve; compliance and turnover; the value of personal use	Annual cash flow, plus an honest note on who does the work	Not an investment recommendation or an appreciation forecast
5. Buyout scenario	Agreed value range; debts and liens; ownership interests; the buying party's financing; agreed credits or allowances	A working range for the conversation	Not a deed, a settlement, an appraisal, or a legal allocation
6. Path comparison	Time horizon; family agreement; liquidity need; workload capacity; how hard each path is to reverse	Decision notes and the gates still open	Not an automatic best option

How the four figures are calculated.

• Monthly carrying cost = the sum of every line in panel 2.
• Estimated sale net = expected sale price − mortgage payoff − other liens − seller transaction costs − repairs and contents removal − projected carrying cost through closing − a tax reserve.
• Buyout working range = agreed property value − debt and liens − agreed repair and transaction allowances, then apply ownership interests and documented credits — but only after legal, title, and tax review.
• Rental cash flow = collected rent − vacancy − management − debt service − taxes − landlord insurance − maintenance and capital reserves − owner-paid utilities and HOA − turnover costs.

Then test the answer. Run each figure at your low, base, and high inputs and mark the two that move the result most — usually the achievable sale price and the cost of repairs and contents removal, or for a rental, vacancy and maintenance. Keep the assumptions written next to the numbers rather than in your head.

Two cautions that change how the output should be read. First, estimated sale net is a property-level figure, not a beneficiary distribution. The estate's valid obligations, administration expenses, and any required tax filings come first, and distributing early can create personal exposure for the person who did it. Second, the tax-reserve line is a placeholder for a professional's number, not a calculation to make here. Inherited-property basis is generally the fair market value at the date of death, or the value at the alternate valuation date but only if the estate files Form 706 and elects it — which most estates are not required to file — with real exceptions (IRS, Gifts and inheritances; IRS Publication 551, December 2025 revision). Reporting a basis higher than the property's final value for federal estate tax purposes can draw an accuracy-related penalty. Keep the categories separate: federal estate tax, any state estate tax, any state inheritance tax, income tax on a gain when the property is sold, and ongoing local property tax are five different things, with different rules and different filers. Our guide to estate and inheritance tax covers the transfer-tax side; basis and gain belong to a tax professional and to the estate's own filings, which IRS Publication 559 (2025) describes for personal representatives.

When each path may fit

Each path below is a conditional fit, not a recommendation. The criteria are already in the comparison table; what follows is the Fit / Pause / Verify test — the test each path has to pass, the signal to stop, and the one thing to verify next.

Selling an inherited house

For the person with recognized authority to sell — a court-appointed personal representative, a successor trustee, or the owner who already holds title. May fit when authority to sell is established, the payoff and lien picture is known, the carrying cost is meaningful against the property's value, the estate needs liquidity for debts, taxes, or an equal division, or no one wants to own or manage the home. Pause when authority is not yet recognized, a co-owner has not agreed, the estate may be insolvent, or a court-approval requirement may apply. Verify next: the written payoff figure as of a specific date, whether court approval or notice is required in that county, and what the property realistically sells for in its current condition rather than repaired. Some states require a court to confirm an estate sale before it closes, and some require notice to beneficiaries first; which applies, if either, is a question for the probate clerk in the decedent's county and is not something a buyer or an agent can settle for you. Once the sale path is the one you are evaluating, our guide to selling an inherited house compares the routes and their costs.

Keeping it for personal use

For the co-heir or surviving family member who will live there, and for whoever must document the transfer to them. May fit when title can actually be transferred to the person who will live there, that person can carry the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and upkeep from their own income, and the other people with an interest are made whole in a documented way. Pause when affordability depends on rent from someone else, on a future sale, or on other heirs waiting indefinitely for their share — or when the person who died received Medicaid long-term care benefits, because a state recovery claim may reach the home and that question should be answered before anyone moves in or makes payments. Verify next: whether the loan can stay in place or must be refinanced or assumed, what the insurer requires once the occupant changes, and how the other interests will be settled in writing. If the person who will live there is also the personal representative or trustee, read the self-dealing warning above first.

Renting it

For the person with clear authority to lease, who is also willing to be the landlord or pay one. May fit when authority to lease is clear, the property is habitable or economically repairable, local registration and habitability rules can be met, and someone will genuinely do the management work — or be paid to. Pause when the home is being kept mainly to postpone a decision no one has made yet, when the cash-flow model works only with no vacancy and no repairs, or when the estate is still open and rent would complicate the accounting. Verify next: what the insurer requires for a tenant-occupied property, the local rules for renting a single-family home, and what a full year of realistic vacancy and maintenance does to cash flow. Converting a home to a rental also changes its tax treatment — a question for a tax professional before the first tenant moves in. Detailed landlord operations are outside what this page covers.

Buying out the others, or being bought out

For co-owners whose interests are established — and, if the buying party is also the fiduciary, for a lawyer first. May fit when ownership interests are established, the parties agree on a value method rather than on a number, the buying party has real financing or liquidity, and the terms are written down. Pause when the value comes from a website estimate or a family guess, when payment depends on a promise rather than a lender, or when someone would sign away an interest without independent advice. Verify next: a valuation method the parties accept in advance, the buying party's financing in writing, and how the deed, the mortgage, and any credits for taxes, repairs, or occupancy will be handled at transfer. A buyout is a property transaction between people who are also settling an estate together; the written terms protect the relationship, not just the money.

Disclaiming before accepting any benefit

For a beneficiary who has taken nothing from the property yet — no one else can use this path. May fit when accepting the property would be a net harm — an underwater or damaged property, an unaffordable obligation, or a creditor or benefits situation — and counsel confirms it. Pause when you have already taken possession, collected rent, or directed what happens to the property; those acts can defeat the option. Verify next: get legal and tax advice immediately, before anything else. Under federal law a qualified disclaimer generally must be an irrevocable, unqualified, written refusal, received by the required person no later than nine months after the transfer that created the interest — generally the date of death — or, for someone who was a minor, nine months after they turn 21, whichever is later; the person must not have accepted the interest or any of its benefits; and the interest must pass to someone else without any direction from them (26 U.S.C. §2518, federal law as of August 2026).

If the nine months pass, the federal qualified disclaimer is no longer available and the deadline cannot be extended. That does not necessarily end every option — many states allow a renunciation or disclaimer under their own law on different timing, with different transfer-tax consequences — but the federal path closes, which is why this is a question for an attorney in the first weeks rather than the last. A disclaimer does not let you choose who receives the property, and it does not simply hand the house back to the estate — where the interest goes is determined by the governing document and state law. That is why this is the one path with no do-it-yourself version.

Switching between paths. These are not permanent categories. Estates commonly start toward keeping a home and move to a sale once the carrying cost becomes visible, or start toward a sale and move to a buyout when one person's attachment turns out to be serious. Re-run the worksheet when a material input changes — a payoff that differs from the balance, an inspection finding, a lender declining a co-heir's financing, an insurer restricting coverage, or a co-owner changing their mind. Two things make switching expensive rather than merely inconvenient: signing a binding agreement before authority exists, and spending significant estate money before the path is chosen.

Situations that change the next step

Gate 4 — co-owners is what most often decides this section: estate shape and your own role set the route together. Find the row closest to yours, then read the narratives below it for the reasoning.

Situation	Your role	What the state decides	Best-fit route	Free route	Not appropriate when	Deadline in play	Next action
Vacant home, ordinary mortgage, heirs live far away	Personal representative, usually also a beneficiary	Whether court confirmation or notice is required for an estate sale	Sell, or hold deliberately until authority is recognized	Clerk's procedural information; recorder's deed copy; written payoff request	Authority is not yet recognized, or the estate may be insolvent	None federal; secured-loan timing if the loan is delinquent	Secure and insure; request the payoff in writing; ask the clerk whether court confirmation applies
One co-heir wants to keep the home; value and financing unclear	Co-heirs, one of whom may also be the fiduciary	Whether self-dealing needs beneficiary consent, court approval, or both	Buyout, with keep contingent on financing	Recorder's deed copy; bar referral for a flat-fee consultation	Payment depends on a promise, or the value comes from a website estimate	None	Agree a valuation method before anyone names a number; get financing in writing
Occupied home, unclear title, delinquent loan or reverse mortgage	Whoever is trying to act, often without recognized authority	Occupant rights; foreclosure timing; reverse-mortgage process	Pause — the legitimate third path	Clerk; HUD-approved housing counseling agency	Any path, until authority and the occupant's status are established	Loan-document and servicer timing, not a legal deadline	Contact servicer and insurer in writing; get jurisdiction-specific advice before touching locks, occupants, or a listing
Home passed by survivorship, funded trust, or TOD deed	Surviving joint owner, successor trustee, or named beneficiary	TOD availability and applicability date; post-death filings; whether recovery reaches non-probate property	No administration needed for this property	Recorder's deed copy — the whole route is free	The deed shows the decedent's name alone	Possibly — some states time-limit the beneficiary's post-death filing	Pull the recorded deed; ask the land records office what the beneficiary must file
Estate may owe more than it holds	Personal representative	Creditor priority; representative liability for premature distribution	Pause, then attorney-directed	Legal aid if income-eligible; state bar referral	Any transfer or distribution before the creditor position is known	The state's creditor-claim period — the window in which claims against the estate must be presented — which this page does not carry	Stop before transferring or distributing; consult a probate attorney
Named executor who does not want the role	Nominee, before appointment	The order in which a successor is appointed	Decline before appointment, or ask to be released after	Clerk's procedural information	Confused with disclaiming an inherited interest — a separate question	Easier early than late; no federal period	Tell the court before appointment; ask the clerk what that state requires
Beneficiary considering refusing the property	Beneficiary who has taken nothing	Whether state renunciation remains available after the federal window	Disclaim	None — the one path with no do-it-yourself version	Possession taken, rent collected, or direction given	Nine months, federal, under 26 U.S.C. § 2518; not extendable	Stop taking any benefit; call an estate attorney now

A vacant home, an ordinary mortgage, and heirs who live far away. Here the carrying cost and the coordination burden usually dominate, not the sale price. The house still needs heat, water management, insurance, and someone to look at it. What this does not establish is that a fast cash sale is the right answer; distance is a workload problem, and it can also be solved by paying someone locally for specific tasks while the ordinary sale process runs.

One co-heir wants to keep the home, and the value and financing are unclear. The decision-changing fact is that this is not a sentiment question, it is a transaction between co-owners. Until value and financing are settled, avoid partial steps — moving in, paying some of the expenses, or taking over the mortgage informally — because each one makes the eventual accounting harder. A handshake buyout does not settle the estate, and it does not transfer title.

An occupied home with unclear title, a delinquent loan, or a reverse mortgage. This one is a pause. An occupant may have rights that depend on state and local law, on whether they paid anything, and on whether the estate's representative has authority. A delinquent loan or a reverse mortgage carries its own process and timing, set by the loan documents and the servicer. None of the obvious actions is automatically lawful here, and taking them in the wrong order can create liability for the person who does.

If the deed, the will, or a beneficiary designation changed in the months before the death, or if the occupant moved in during a period of declining health, that is a question for a probate or elder law attorney before it is a family question. Where there are signs a person was pressured, deceived, or financially exploited, adult protective services in that county and, in serious cases, local law enforcement are the routes — not a conversation among heirs.

About the mail and calls you may start receiving. Probate filings are public records, and companies buy that data. Postcards, letters, and calls about the house often begin within weeks — none of them come from the court, and none of them require a response. Three categories are worth recognizing. Inheritance or probate advances buy a discounted share of what you expect to receive; they are not loans, and the discount is the price. Probate-acquisition buyers offer cash and speed, usually below what the property would bring on the open market with ordinary preparation. Unlicensed document preparers offer to handle the paperwork; they may not be attorneys, and they cannot advise you on your situation. None of these is illegal, and one of them may even suit a particular estate — but each is a commercial offer arriving at the moment you have the least time to evaluate it, and the test is the same one this page uses everywhere else: if an option will not answer the confirm-before-you-engage questions in writing, that is information about the option.

Across all these situations, the pattern is the same: the fact that changes the next step is almost never the estimated value of the house. It is who can act, what the loan and the insurer say, and whether the people involved agree. When contents and condition are what stands between the estate and its chosen path, our guide to estate cleanout options covers that work; it is an implementation step after the path is chosen, not before.

When to pause and get help

Pausing is a legitimate third option alongside acting and deciding. It is not indecision when the reason is specific and the pause has an end condition. Match the trigger to the right resource rather than defaulting to the most expensive one — and you may need no paid provider yet. Securing the home, calling the insurer and servicer, requesting the court's self-help information, and gathering documents are free, and may be the whole of this month's work.

What is happening	Where to go first	What that resource can and cannot do	Confirm before you engage or pay
You do not know whether probate applies, or what the local procedure is	The probate court clerk and the court's self-help resources in the decedent's county	Clerks explain procedure, forms, and filing requirements; they cannot give legal advice or tell you what to do	Which procedure applies to real property in that county, the published filing fee, which form the court uses, and whether a self-help center reviews paperwork
A loan is involved, delinquent, in foreclosure, or is a reverse mortgage	The mortgage servicer, in writing; a HUD-approved housing counseling agency for foreclosure risk	The servicer controls account information and loss-mitigation options; it does not decide title	Whether the payoff, escrow, delinquency status, and any loss-mitigation option are confirmed in writing, and whether a housing counselor should be involved
The home is empty, occupied, or its use has changed	The insurer or agent named on the declarations page	The insurer states what the policy covers and what endorsement is available; coverage is policy- and state-specific	What changes when the home is vacant or tenant-occupied, what endorsement is available, and what it costs
You mainly need estate documents prepared and filed correctly, with no dispute	A probate attorney offering limited-scope representation who will state the fee basis in writing	Limited-scope work covers named tasks only; it is not a fit where there are disputes, insolvency, or out-of-state property	Whether limited-scope representation is available in that state, the fee basis — flat, hourly, or a statutory percentage — and what is excluded
One home, one or two heirs who agree, a loan that is current	Court self-help and the clerk's procedural information; a one-time attorney consultation if anything is unclear	Self-help resources explain the court's own process; they do not review your facts	Whether the attorney offers a flat-fee consultation, whether limited-scope help is available in that state, and what is excluded
The estate needs the highest reasonable net from a sale	A licensed agent with documented estate and probate sale experience, engaged after authority is recognized	An agent markets and negotiates; they cannot confirm authority, and are not a fit while a court-approval requirement is unconfirmed	Licence status, documented estate-sale experience, the commission and who pays it, and whether court confirmation is required first
Authority or title is disputed, court approval may be needed, an occupant's rights are at issue, or the property is in another state	A probate or estate attorney licensed in the relevant state; a state bar lawyer-referral service or legal aid if cost is a barrier	An attorney can advise on your facts; a title company checks title but does not resolve estate disputes	Whether the attorney is licensed where the property sits, whether they represent the estate or one person, how conflicts are handled, who signs the engagement letter, and the fee basis
The estate may owe more than it holds	A probate attorney, before any distribution or property transfer	Creditor priority and representative liability are state-law questions with real consequences	Whether the attorney has handled insolvent estates, and what happens to the fee if the estate cannot pay
The person who died received Medicaid long-term care, nursing home care, or home and community-based services	An elder law attorney in the decedent's state, before transferring, selling, or distributing the home; the state Medicaid agency can confirm whether a claim exists	States must seek recovery from certain estates for those who received care at 55 or older, and scope, exemptions, hardship waivers, and whether the home is reachable vary by state (Medicaid.gov, reviewed August 2026)	Whether a claim exists, whether any federal protection applies to your facts, and what that state's hardship waiver process requires
Basis, a sale gain, converting to a rental, or an estate filing is in play	A CPA or tax attorney experienced with estates	A tax professional applies current rules to your facts; this page cannot	Which returns they will prepare, for whom, and by when
Someone is considering a disclaimer, or a beneficiary is a minor or is incapacitated	An estate attorney, immediately	Timing and conduct rules are strict, and options close as time passes	How quickly they can meet, and whether they handle both the federal timing rule and the state-law effect

One option the table does not cover: where no one in the family can or should serve, a professional fiduciary may be appointed if state law and the governing document allow it — though that is not a fit when the fee would consume the benefit.

Medicaid is the item most often discovered too late, so it is worth more than a table row. Federal rules require states to seek recovery from the estates of people who received Medicaid long-term care at 55 or older, but not while there is a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age — and every state must have a hardship waiver procedure (Medicaid.gov; Administration for Community Living, both reviewed August 2026). Two further protections apply to the home specifically, and they come up often on an inherited house: a sibling who has an equity interest in the home and lived there for at least a year before the person entered care, and an adult child who lived there for at least two years and can establish to the state that their care let the person stay at home rather than enter an institution (42 U.S.C. § 1396p, reviewed August 2026). None of these is applied automatically — each is raised and documented with the state agency. What counts as the estate — and whether a home that passed by transfer-on-death deed or by survivorship is reachable — is set by state law. That answer is worth having before anyone moves in or spends money on the house.

Two situations people are often afraid to ask about. If the will cannot be found, the estate is not stuck — most states have a procedure for administering an estate as though there were no will, and several also have a procedure for proving a copy where the original was lost. Several states also require whoever holds the original will to file or deposit it with the court within a set period after the death, whether or not anyone opens an estate; the period, and what happens if it is missed, are set by that state, so ask the probate clerk in the decedent's county early rather than late. And if you were named executor and do not want the role, you can decline it before you are appointed, or ask the court to be released after appointment; the court then appoints someone else in the order that state's law sets. Declining the role is a separate question from disclaiming an inherited interest in the property, and either one is easier to do early than late.

Use the same scorecard for every option rather than a different standard for each. That scorecard is already on this page: the "verify next" line under each path in when each path may fit, plus the confirm-before-you-engage column above. If the question is whether you need a lawyer at all — and for some straightforward estates the honest answer is not much of one — our guide to when probate legal help may be useful walks through the decision criteria rather than assuming an answer.

Debts, the mortgage, and what you personally owe

Debts are not forgiven at death, and two questions get merged here.

The estate's liability is one. Valid claims are generally paid from estate assets, in an order state law sets, before anything is distributed. A mortgage stays attached to the property either way — the security interest survives, and someone must keep the loan current or resolve it for the home to be kept or transferred cleanly.

Your personal liability is another, and it usually does not exist. Family members generally do not have to pay a deceased relative's debts from their own money. The real exceptions are specific: you co-signed or guaranteed the debt, you were a joint account holder, or a particular state rule reaches you, such as a community-property or family-expense provision. Being named executor or personal representative does not by itself make you personally responsible for the debts — it makes you responsible for handling the estate's assets properly (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reviewed August 2026).

That distinction matters because collectors call. A debt collector may contact the personal representative or a surviving spouse to discuss the debt and payment from the estate, and may contact another relative once, to find out who the personal representative is. What a collector may not do is state or imply that you are personally responsible for paying a debt that is not yours (CFPB, reviewed August 2026). If you are told you must pay a parent's debt out of your own money, that claim is worth checking before you pay anything, and complaints can be filed with the CFPB.

If the estate may owe more than it holds, stop before transferring or distributing the house. Paying the wrong creditor first, or distributing to beneficiaries while valid claims are outstanding, is one of the places where a well-meaning family member takes on exposure they did not need to.

Questions people ask about inherited houses

Can we sell the house if it still has a mortgage on it?

Often yes, once someone has recognized authority to sell and the loan is satisfied at closing from the proceeds. The payoff figure comes from the servicer as of a specific date and is not the statement balance. Keep payments current while this is arranged, if the estate or an owner can — a default while a sale is pending is expensive and hard to undo.

Can one of us buy out the others?

Sometimes. It works when four things exist: established ownership interests, an agreed method for valuing the property, real financing or liquidity for the buying party, and written terms covering the deed, the loan, and any credits. Co-owners are not obliged to accept an informal number, and a buyout does not by itself close the estate. Where interests are disputed, this is a legal matter before it is a financial one.

How long before the house can be sold or transferred?

There is no universal timeline, and any single number you see belongs to someone else's jurisdiction. The clock is set by the slowest dependency: the court's schedule for appointing a personal representative, the state's creditor-claim period, any required inventory or appraisal, the sale itself, tax filings and clearances, and any dispute. Creditor-claim periods vary widely between states, and this page does not carry that data — ask the clerk in the decedent's county which stages apply there, and see how probate works for the sequence. Some transfers — a survivorship deed, a funded trust, a transfer-on-death deed where a state allows it — may not involve the court at all.

What does the paperwork side of this cost?

Keep the categories separate, because different people bill them. The court's filing fee is set by the state or county and published in that court's own fee schedule. Then there may be publication or notice costs, certified death-certificate copies, a bond premium if one is required, an appraisal, compensation for the personal representative where state law allows it, and attorney fees — flat, hourly, or in some states a statutory percentage, so ask which basis applies before engaging. These are generally payable from estate assets rather than from the personal representative's own money, but keep estate and personal funds strictly separate and keep receipts. Repairs, contents removal, and closing costs are property-level and belong in the worksheet above.

Can I still disclaim the house if I have been staying there or collecting the rent?

Possibly not. A federal qualified disclaimer requires that the person has not accepted the interest or any of its benefits, and the regulation treats acceptance broadly — using the property or taking the rents can count, while a fiduciary's ordinary acts to maintain property are treated differently (26 CFR §25.2518-2). The federal timing rule and the state-law effect are separate questions, and both matter. If a disclaimer is under consideration at all, stop taking any benefit from the property and speak with an estate attorney now.

Your next step

Fill in the known-facts panel of the worksheet and mark what is missing — the ownership path, whether authority is recognized, the payoff figure, the insurer's answer about occupancy, each person's interest. Then close the single biggest gap by contacting the institution that owns that answer: the county probate court clerk for procedure, the servicer for the loan, the insurer for coverage, the recorder's office for the deed. One closed gap is a good week. The comparison gets easier as the facts arrive, and the path that fits usually becomes obvious rather than having to be chosen under pressure.

About this guide

Estate Made Clear is an independent educational publisher, produced by the Estate Made Clear editorial team. Our method here is narrow: read the governing source — a statute, a federal regulation, an official form, an agency's guidance, or an institution's published terms — report what it says, and record the date it was read. Where we could not confirm something, we say so rather than filling the gap.

We are not a law firm, court, brokerage, insurer, tax preparer, or fiduciary, and nothing here is advice about your estate. Where a question turns on your particular facts, this page names the office or professional who can answer it rather than answering it for you.

How this page is funded. Estate Made Clear is supported by advertising and, on some pages, disclosed referral links. This page carries no referral links and no sponsored placement, and no company pays to appear on it or to be described in any particular way; if a compensated link is added to this page, it will be disclosed here. Two of the guides linked from this page are hubs where we may earn a commission if you engage a service through them; nothing on this page is ordered or worded to make that more likely, and the free court, clerk, and legal-aid routes are named first throughout. We do not sell or share reader information with probate lead buyers, inheritance advance companies, or property investors.

Refresh and corrections. Last verified August 3, 2026. Next scheduled review August 2027, or sooner if a state changes its transfer-on-death law or a cited federal rule is amended. Corrections and questions can be sent to hello@estatemadeclear.com.

Sources and last verified date

Last verified: August 3, 2026

Next review: August 2027, or sooner if a state changes its transfer-on-death law or a cited federal rule is amended.

• How do I get mortgage information about a home I inherited? — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Supports what a servicer may require as proof of a right to the home and the state-to-state variation in that documentation.
• 12 CFR 1024.38, General servicing policies, procedures, and requirements — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Supports the servicer's obligations to facilitate communication with potential successors in interest, identify required documents, and make a confirmation determination.
• Can a debt collector contact me about a deceased relative's debts? — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Supports what a collector may and may not say to a relative or personal representative about a decedent's debt.
• When a loved one dies and debt collectors come calling — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Supports the rule that serving as personal representative does not create personal liability for the decedent's debts, and the limits on contacting other relatives.
• 12 U.S.C. §1701j-3, Preemption of due-on-sale prohibitions — Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives — Supports the statutory scope and the listed transfers on which a lender may not exercise a due-on-sale clause for qualifying residential loans.
• 26 U.S.C. §2518, Disclaimers — Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives — Supports the federal qualified-disclaimer conditions: a written, irrevocable refusal, the nine-month timing rule, no acceptance of benefits, and passage without direction.
• 26 CFR §25.2518-2, Requirements for a qualified disclaimer — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — Supports the acceptance-of-benefits detail, including the treatment of using property or receiving rents.
• 42 U.S.C. §1396p, Liens, adjustments and recoveries, and transfers of assets — U.S. Government Publishing Office — Supports the sibling-equity and caregiver-child protections that apply to the decedent's home in Medicaid estate recovery.
• Gifts and inheritances — Internal Revenue Service — Supports the general basis rules for inherited property, the alternate valuation condition, and the accuracy-related penalty for reporting basis above the final estate-tax value.
• Publication 551, Basis of Assets (December 2025 revision) — Internal Revenue Service — Supports inherited-property basis, exceptions, and the consistent-basis reporting context for a later sale.
• Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators (2025) — Internal Revenue Service — Supports the federal filing responsibilities of a personal representative and the separation of estate-level filings from a beneficiary's own return.
• Homeowners Insurance — National Association of Insurance Commissioners — Supports what homeowners coverage generally protects and the lender requirement to maintain coverage.
• Estate Recovery — Medicaid.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Supports the federal estate-recovery mandate for enrollees aged 55 or older, the services covered, the surviving-spouse and child protections, and the hardship-waiver requirement.
• Medicaid Estate Recovery — Administration for Community Living — Supports the plain-language statement that state probate law defines what the recoverable estate includes, which commonly includes the home.
• Uniform Laws Update: The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — American Bar Association, Probate & Property, September–October 2025 — Supports the count of jurisdictions permitting transfer-on-death deeds and the distinction between uniform-act and pre-existing non-uniform statutes.
• Uniform Laws Update: 2025 Legislative Update — American Bar Association, Probate & Property, January–February 2026 — Supports the 2025 enactment of the uniform act in Delaware.
• States That Allow Transfer-On-Death Deeds for Real Estate — Nolo, updated December 22, 2025 — Used as a dated secondary cross-check on the jurisdiction list and on the states where an enhanced life estate deed is used instead.
• Transfer on Death Deed form P-150, citing Alaska Stat. § 13.48 — Alaska Court System — Supports the Alaska statutory citation in the jurisdiction table.
• Arizona Revised Statutes § 33-405, Beneficiary deeds — Justia Codes — Supports the Arizona statutory citation.
• Arkansas Code § 18-12-608, Beneficiary deeds — Justia Codes — Supports the Arkansas statutory citation.
• California Probate Code § 5600 — FindLaw Codes — Supports the California statutory citation, its application to deaths on or after January 1, 2016, and the January 1, 2032 repeal date.
• Colorado Revised Statutes § 15-15-404, Form of beneficiary deed — Justia Codes — Supports the Colorado statutory citation.
• Delaware Code Title 25, Chapter 2, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Delaware Code Online — Supports the Delaware statutory citation and its application to transferors dying on or after December 4, 2025.
• D.C. Code § 19-604.13, Effect of transfer on death deed at transferor's death — D.C. Law Library — Supports the District of Columbia statutory citation.
• House Bill 413 (2025–2026), amending O.C.G.A. Chapter 44-17 — Georgia General Assembly — Supports the Georgia statutory citation, the July 1, 2024 effective date of the chapter, and its April 22, 2026 amendment.
• Hawaii Revised Statutes § 527-13, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Hawaii State Legislature — Supports the Hawaii statutory citation.
• Indiana Code § 32-17-14-11, Transfer on death deeds — Justia Codes — Supports the Indiana statutory citation.
• Kansas Statutes § 59-3501, Transfer-on-death — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes — Supports the Kansas statutory citation.
• Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C § 6-405, Transfer on death deed authorized — Maine Legislature — Supports the Maine statutory citation.
• Minnesota Statutes § 507.071, Transfer on Death Deeds — Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes — Supports the Minnesota statutory citation and the beneficiary's duty to account for a state medical-assistance claim.
• Missouri Revised Statutes § 461.025, Deeds effective on death of owner — Missouri Revisor of Statutes — Supports the Missouri statutory citation.
• Montana Code Annotated § 72-6-415, Optional form of transfer on death deed — Montana Legislative Services — Supports the Montana statutory citation.
• Nebraska Revised Statutes §§ 76-3401 to 76-3423 — Nebraska Legislature — Supports the Nebraska statutory citation.
• Nevada Revised Statutes § 111.655, Real Property Transfer on Death (Uniform Act) — Justia Codes — Supports the Nevada statutory citation.
• New Hampshire RSA Chapter 563-D, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — New Hampshire General Court — Supports the New Hampshire statutory citation and its July 1, 2024 effective date.
• New York Real Property Law § 424, Transfer on death deed — New York State Senate — Supports the New York statutory citation and its July 19, 2024 effective date.
• Ohio Revised Code § 5302.22 — Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules — Supports the Ohio citation and the fact that Ohio uses a transfer-on-death designation affidavit rather than a deed.
• Oklahoma Statutes § 58-1252, Transfer-on-death deed — Justia Codes — Supports the Oklahoma statutory citation.
• Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 93, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Justia Codes — Supports the Oregon statutory citation.
• South Dakota Codified Laws Chapter 29A-6, Non-Probate Transfers — South Dakota Legislature — Supports the South Dakota statutory citation.
• Texas Estates Code Chapter 114, Transfer on Death Deed — Texas Constitution and Statutes — Supports the Texas statutory citation.
• Utah Code § 75-6-407, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Justia Codes — Supports the Utah statutory citation and its May 8, 2018 effective date.
• Code of Virginia § 64.2-621 et seq., Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Virginia Law Portal — Supports the Virginia statutory citation.
• Revised Code of Washington Chapter 64.80, Washington Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act — Washington State Legislature — Supports the Washington statutory citation.
• Wisconsin Statutes § 705.15, Nonprobate transfer of real property on death — Wisconsin State Legislature — Supports the Wisconsin statutory citation.
• Wyoming Statutes § 2-18-103, Transfer on death deed — Justia Codes — Supports the Wyoming statutory citation.