Inherited Property - What To Know When You Sell It

The death of a parent can bring sudden and sometimes unconsidered responsibilities to children and family members left behind. Not the least of these is the settlement and distribution of real property that the parents acquired while they were alive.

Real property (land and the structures that sit on the land) as well as personal property (cars, jewelry, money, etc.) comprise what is known in legal terms as a person’s estate. A will is a legal document that is drafted prior to a person’s death that stipulates how his or her estate is to be distributed after death.

Intestate succession laws, administered through the North Carolina Court System, exist to ensure the smooth and correct transfer of real property from owners to eligible beneficiaries, if a property owner dies without leaving a will. But even with a will, certain procedures must be followed in order for property to be transferred effectively and smoothly from the beneficiaries to another owner.

The process begins with the assignment of an executor or an administrator and the assignment of authority to determine the contents of a person’s estate and how it will be distributed. This authority comes from letters of appointment called “Letters Testamentary” and “Letters of Administration” that are designated either by the decedent prior to death or by the court.

Handling a person’s estate, depending on the value of assets in the estate, your relationship to the decedent, and whether other people are entitled to some of the assets can be as simple as pie or so complicated that estate lawyers and tax professionals are required.

In general, handling someone’s estate means:

● Determining all of the decedent’s assets or property (land, automobiles, boats, money, stocks, jewelry, or other items of value);
● Identifying and notifying the creditors of the estate (the people or businesses to which the decedent owed money before his death (mortgage, car loan, credit cards)) and the persons or businesses who are due money as a result of the decedent’s death (funeral home, hospital bills);
● Identifying and notifying the persons or organizations entitled to a share of the estate (spouse, children, friends, charitable or religious organizations);
● Publishing notice to creditors in the local newspaper;
● Paying the decedent’s debts;
● Filing accountings with the Clerk of Superior Court, showing income and disbursements;
● Distributing the rest of the estate as required by the decedent’s will or by state intestacy law.

Such laws vary by state and even, in some cases, by county or municipality. In North Carolina, for instance, if a person dies without leaving a will and legal beneficiaries cannot be determined by the court, the value of the person’s holdings “escheats” to the state, which then donates the value to the to an authority which provides loans to worthy and needy North Carolina students in State-supported institutions of higher education.

Your first call should be to the Superior Court Clerk’s office in the county in which the decedent owned property.