Though the death of a person you loved so dearly such as your parents happens to be so overwhelming, the need of you standing up, stumbling your feet and taking charge of life as it has come in the new dimension will arise since life has to move on. Death is one of the life’s biggest challenges since without mercy or second thoughts, it does takes away anything or everything one had or possessed.
Loved ones such as your parents will leave behind their properties and automatically, as the survivor, you will need to take good care of them. Challenges such as the need of paying off bills that could have accrued in the hospital they had been admitted too, may arise and these will force you to do away with some of the properties. Selling your house would always have the probability of you finding a good suitor with quite a substantial amount of money which is high.
Other reasons apart from paying bills that can compel you to sell your house without probating a will:
1) You having your own home and family and you don’t need a second house.
2) The fear of thieves vandalizing you parents home and stealing things since no one lives there.
3) They could have given you a house as a gift and then you get a family which happens to grow so fast hence making the house become too small for you and them.
In this article, lets discuss, get to think and know if its possible for you to sell a house before probate especially in Texas using an Affidavit of Heirship.
Probate Process
A probate is a judicial certificate that tends to recognize how genuine a will is and then goes ahead to confer powers to the executors to administer the estate and properties. The probate is highly required since mostly, it happens to outline the wishes of the deceased. The probate process begins when the executor who could have been chosen by the descendant in the last will decides to submit the will for probate in the courthouse where the deceased happened to live.
Courthouse
A probate court’s work is to carry out the probate in the house. In a death condition, the deceased may have left a will or not. If a will exists, the probate court gives direction and authority to the executor or inheritor. Where there is no will, Heir-ship affidavit should be prepared. The applicant of administration or probate should prepare and provide rightfully, the complete names of the beneficiaries and the relationship they had with the deceased. The probate court then goes ahead then and gives authority to the applicant only and only if all people related to the deceased especially the beneficiaries and close family members have come in to an agreement.
The probate process undergoes four steps.
File a Petition
You will be required to file a petition in a court and also give notice to the heirs and beneficiaries. This is mainly so as to appoint an executor if there is a will and if no will exist, an administrator of the estate to be appointed. All the descendants’ heirs and beneficiaries must be provided the notice to the court hearing. In case there is an objection about the petition by the beneficiaries, the court will grant them the opportunity to speak. Other people such as creditors to the descendants will be notified about the court hearing through the local newspaper.
Notify Creditors
Notify CreditorsThe second step requires the personal representative to give notice to all creditors of the estate and also go ahead and take the inventory of the estate property. This is to give the creditors to make their claims on the assets within a certain time span. The deceased property such as stocks and bonds, business interests and real property is taken by a court appointed appraiser. Non-cash assets can be taken by an independent appraiser who could be hired by the estate.
Pay the Funeral Expenses, Taxes and Debts
Legitimate creditor’s claims are determined by the personal representative and he / she goes ahead and pays them off.
Transfer to Beneficiaries
After all, has been settled such as all claims paid, the personal representative or administrator then files a petition to the court to be given the powers to transfer the now remaining assets to the beneficiaries in accordance to the deceased will.
Without completion of the probate process, selling your house in San Antonio become tricky even in other cities. Let’s not deny that the probate process can be seen to be so tedious and costly since it involves you going to the court every time and you will have to at least wait for thirty days till the court grants you the authority over the estate. If by any chance you get a good lawyer, you’ll be lucky since you’ll be able to complete all that probate process in a short period of time.
Can you sell a house without going through probate in Texas? The answer is Yes. Texas happens to have exceptions in its probate processes.
Muniment of Title.
A Muniment of Title also known as a Muniment is a legal document that tends to indicate the ownership of an asset or property. If the deceased didn’t leave a will back and by good chance had not secured any debt by real property, you will easily be given the Muniment. You will only be needed to go the county court of Texas, and have the will validated. Once the will has been approved and validated, the beneficiaries name will appear on the titles of the properties as they will be transferred.
The Affidavit of Heirship.
Can you sell a house without probating a will or a house without a will? We’ve purchased many houses in Texas from homeowners that inherited a home yet there was no will (owner died intestate) & we’ve also bought homes where the seller died with a will (testate), yet the title company only needed notarized affidavits of heirships to complete the sale of the house.
Unlike the Muniment of Title, this is mostly used in cases where there happens to be no will but can also be used in cases where the heir doesn’t wish to probate a will at all and bypass/avoid probate all together. If you are an heir, and you want to speed up the settlement, you should go for this option. It is considered fast since you won’t have to go through the probate court. The beneficiaries will have the advantage of establishing the ownership of the personal property. Not withstanding the case of no will, it can also be used in the cases where there is a will. It will easily be processed when you come into an agreement about the distribution and disbursement of the deceased properties with the other heirs. You will also easily use the document to gain access to funds in the bank accounts and also other properties. The process will only require two individuals who are non-beneficiaries of the estate to sign the affidavit and then properties will easily be transferred.
In conclusion, we can see that it’s not a requirement for you to go through the probate process in order for you to sell a house.
Are you located in San Antonio Texas and willing to sell that house and avoid probate? Give us a call today at (210) 547-7505.
We have fair offers and we purchase in cash. Don’t mind about having a timeline as we do complete our deals very fast. We are also very flexible as we can go by our clients’ timeline.
