Sell a House in Probate in Philadelphia

Selling an Inherited House in Probate in Philadelphia

If you’ve inherited a Philadelphia house, someone has probably told you “it has to go through probate” — usually without explaining what that means, where it happens, or when you’re actually allowed to sell. Here’s the real machinery, because in Philadelphia it’s more navigable than it sounds. (Pennsylvania doesn’t even have a “probate court” — that phrase is a tell that a page was written somewhere else.)

Probate starts in one room: Register of Wills, City Hall Room 180

Estates are opened at the Philadelphia Register of Wills, City Hall Room 180 — by appointment, at (215) 686-6255 or ProbateAppt@phila.gov. You bring four things: the original will if there is one, an original death certificate, an estimate of the estate’s value, and photo ID. Fees are tiered to the estate’s size — as of the current schedule, a typical estate in the $50,000–$200,000 range pays about $490 to open, and the office takes card, certified check, or money order, not cash.

What you leave with — usually approved within about 7–10 business days — is the document everything else depends on: letters testamentary if a will named you executor, or letters of administration if there’s no will. If several family members have equal right to serve, the others can sign renunciations ($15 each) so one person administers alone. That’s renouncing the job, not the inheritance — nobody gives up their share by signing one.

Once you have letters, you can usually sell — without waiting for probate to “finish”

This is the part that surprises people. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3351, the estate’s personal representative can generally sell estate real estate without any court order — probate doesn’t have to be complete, and there’s no hearing to schedule. And a buyer who purchases from the personal representative takes title free of the decedent’s debts and the claims of heirs (§ 3357), which is exactly why title companies love a clean estate sale and why the closing paperwork includes a short certificate — the $10, court-sealed page proving you’re the estate’s representative. Order a recently issued one; the title company will tell you how fresh it needs to be.

Two honest caveats. If the will specifically leaves the house to a named person, that person has to join in the sale. And an executor can’t sign anything until letters actually issue — the will alone isn’t authority. Estate disputes, when they happen, go to the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas (City Hall Room 415), but most Philadelphia estate sales never see the inside of it.

The one-year rule — the myth versus the mechanics

You may have heard “you can’t sell an inherited house for a year.” Not true — but here’s where it comes from. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3385, if the heirs themselves convey the house without an estate ever being raised, the decedent’s debts can remain enforceable against the property during the first year after death. So title companies treat heir-deed sales inside that year as risky — and the fix is simply to open the estate and sell by personal-representative deed instead, which passes clean title even inside the year. How you sell changes; whether you can sell doesn’t.

The clocks the estate runs on

• Advertising. The grant of letters is advertised once a week for three successive weeks — in Philadelphia, in a general newspaper plus the Legal Intelligencer.
• Inventory. The Register expects the estate’s inventory (the house included) back within 9 months.
• Inheritance tax. The return is filed at the Inheritance Tax Department, City Hall Room 177 — the Register of Wills doubles as the state’s collection agent — and title companies routinely collect or escrow for it at a probate-sale closing, because unpaid inheritance tax follows the property. Rates, deadlines, and the early-payment discount live on our inherited-house guide.
• No shortcut for houses. Pennsylvania’s $50,000 “small estate” petition covers personal property only — real estate is expressly excluded. If the main asset is a rowhome, letters are required no matter how modest the estate.

One adjacent problem worth naming: if a previous generation’s estate was never probated — the deed still shows a grandparent — that’s a tangled title, and it needs its own repair before any sale.

Where we fit in a probate sale

We buy Philadelphia probate and estate properties as-is: the house untouched since the wake, the rowhome that sat vacant while the family decided, the property with four heirs in four states. We work directly with your estate attorney and the title company, time the agreement to when your letters issue, and structure around the estate’s inheritance-tax escrow. Heirs out of state sign remotely. You clean out nothing — take what matters and leave the rest.

An offer from us is free information for the estate: a real as-is number the representative can put next to the renovate-and-list math when heirs disagree about what to do. Here’s exactly how we build that number.

This page is general information about the Philadelphia probate process — it is not legal advice. Estates differ; work with an estate attorney on yours.

Settling an estate with a Philadelphia house in it? Request your free cash offer, or call or text (215) 515-7799 and we’ll talk through where the estate stands.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sell a house before probate is finished in Philadelphia?

Usually, yes. Once the Register of Wills issues letters testamentary or letters of administration, the personal representative can generally sell estate real estate without a court order under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3351 — the estate doesn’t need to be fully settled first. The main exceptions: a will that restricts the sale, or a house specifically left to a named person, who must join in. This is general information, not legal advice.

The estate is small. Can we skip probate?

Not if a house is the asset. Pennsylvania’s small-estate procedure applies to personal property up to $50,000 and expressly excludes real estate — so a Philadelphia rowhome requires full letters even when nothing else does. The opening cost is tiered to estate size at the Register of Wills, and the process is more clerical than courtroom.

Do all the heirs have to agree before the house can be sold?

Legally, the personal representative holds the authority to sell — but practically, sales go smoothest when everyone’s aligned, and we’re glad to walk every heir through the numbers on the same call. Where family members have equal right to administer, renunciations let one person serve alone; that affects who runs the estate, never who inherits.

What does probate cost in Philadelphia?

The Register of Wills charges on a sliding scale — roughly $385 to open a $10,000–$50,000 estate and about $490 for $50,000–$200,000, per the current fee schedule — plus small items like $10 short certificates and $15 renunciations. Inheritance tax is separate and depends on who inherits. Fees change; confirm current numbers with the Register of Wills at (215) 686-6255.

The deed is still in my grandmother’s name and her estate was never opened. Is that probate too?

That’s a tangled title — a related but different problem, and one of Philadelphia’s most common. It usually means raising the missed estate (or estates) so the chain of ownership catches up to the living. It’s solvable, free help exists for qualifying families, and we work through it with sellers regularly — but it has to be resolved before any closing.