You inherited a house in Fresno. Here is the order things happen in.

Find out how the house was held

Look for a trust document, a will, or a deed with two names on it. The deed is on file with the Fresno County Recorder; a title company can pull it for you in a day. How the house was held decides everything after this.

In a trust

The successor trustee named in the trust can sell without the court. Quickest case.

A will, no trust

Probate in Fresno County Superior Court. The executor named in the will asks the court to appoint them.

No will, no trust

Probate too. The court appoints an administrator, usually the closest relative who asks.

Two names on the deed

Often the survivor already owns it. An affidavit and a death certificate recorded against the title usually clears it.

Get the authority to sign

A trustee has it from the trust. An executor or administrator gets it from the court, as Letters, after a petition and a hearing, which in Fresno County usually takes a few months from filing. Smaller estates can sometimes pass real property by a simpler petition; whether yours qualifies depends on the value and the date of death. A probate attorney tells you which, and most will tell you on the first call.

Sort out the taxes before you decide anything

Property tax

Since 2021, a house passing from a parent to a child is reassessed to today’s value unless a child moves in and makes it their home within a year. A Fresno house bought in the 1980s can see its tax bill go up several times over. The county assessor can tell you the new number; there is a claim form and a deadline if a child is moving in.

Capital gains

An inherited house generally takes a new tax basis at its value on the date of death. Sold soon afterward at about that value, there is usually little or no capital gains tax, however long your parents owned it. Your tax advisor confirms.

The bills that keep coming

Property tax is due December 10 and April 10 whether or not anyone is living there. Unpaid tax is paid out of the sale at closing, so a sale clears it.

Mind the house while it sits

Tell the insurer. Many policies stop covering a house once it has been empty for 30 to 60 days, and a vacant house in Fresno gets noticed. Keep the water on if there is a lawn, and keep the gas off if nobody is there. Forward the mail. If a relative is living in the house, decide early what the family wants, because it affects both the sale and the price.

Decide how to sell it

Two honest choices. List it with an agent, after clearing it out and doing the repairs a lender will ask for, and let buyers compete; that usually brings the most money and takes the most months. Or sell it directly, as it sits, contents included, to a buyer like us, for less money and no work. How a direct sale works is below. Executors and trustees owe the heirs a fair price, so whichever you choose, get an independent opinion of value first.

Close, and divide the money

Title and escrow handle the sale either way. In a trust sale the trustee signs. In a probate sale with full authority, the executor sends the heirs a Notice of Proposed Action and, if nobody objects within fifteen days, signs. With limited authority the sale is confirmed at a hearing where other buyers can overbid. The proceeds go where the trust or the will says, or by the state’s rules if there was neither.