How to Sell an Inherited House in California (2026): Probate Rules, the $750K Shortcut, and Step-Up Basis

To sell an inherited house in California, you first need legal authority over the title — and how you get it determines your timeline. If the home was held in a living trust or joint tenancy, you can often sell within weeks. If it must go through formal probate, plan for 9 to 18 months (California Courts self-help guide). And since April 2025, there's a middle path many heirs miss: if the home was the deceased person's primary residence and is worth $750,000 or less, you may be able to use a simplified court petition instead of full probate (California Courts).

This guide walks through the four questions that decide everything: how the title passes, whether you owe capital gains tax (usually far less than heirs fear, thanks to the step-up in basis), what happens to the property tax bill under Prop 19, and what the sale itself should cost.

> Talk to a professional first. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Probate, basis, and Prop 19 outcomes turn on facts specific to your family and the estate — before you list, spend an hour with an estate attorney and a CPA. It is routinely the highest-ROI hour in the entire process.

Step 1: Figure Out How the Title Passes

Everything downstream depends on how the deceased person held the property:

• Living trust. The successor trustee can typically sell without court involvement. This is the fast lane — weeks, not months.
• Joint tenancy or community property with right of survivorship. Title passes to the surviving owner outside probate; an affidavit of death plus a certified death certificate usually clears the way.
• Transfer-on-death (revocable TOD) deed. If the deceased recorded one, the named beneficiary takes title outside probate.
• Sole ownership, no trust (or a will alone). A will does not avoid probate in California. You'll need either formal probate or one of the small-estate shortcuts below.

Step 2: Probate — or One of the Shortcuts

Three details worth knowing about formal probate (California Courts): the court must appoint a personal representative before anyone has authority to sell; there's a mandatory four-month creditor window after notice issues before the estate can be distributed or closed; and the representative is generally expected to complete probate within a year of appointment. Homes can be sold during probate — under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, many probate sales close without individual court confirmation, though the authority granted to the representative determines how much court oversight each sale gets.

The $750,000 primary-residence petition is the newest tool, effective for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (California Courts). Given that California's median home now sells for $845,000 (Houzeo California), plenty of inherited homes — especially inland and in older neighborhoods — fall under the cap. The separate $208,850 small-estate affidavit covers personal property when the entire California estate is under that threshold, usable 40 days after death (California Courts).

Step 3: The Tax Question — Step-Up in Basis Usually Saves You

The single most misunderstood part of selling an inherited house: you generally do not pay capital gains tax on decades of appreciation. Under federal law, the basis of inherited property is its fair market value on the date of the owner's death — not what they paid for it (IRS, gifts & inheritances FAQ; IRS Publication 551).

A concrete example: your mother bought a house in 1992 for $150,000. It was worth $845,000 when she passed. You sell it eight months later for $860,000. Your taxable gain is roughly $15,000 (sale price minus the stepped-up $845,000 basis, before selling costs) — not the $710,000 of lifetime appreciation. Sell reasonably soon after death and the gain often rounds to approximately zero after transaction costs. Get a date-of-death appraisal — it's the document that establishes your stepped-up basis.

> CPA checkpoint: basis consistency rules (Form 8971), the alternate valuation date, community-property double step-up for surviving spouses, and depreciation on inherited rentals all change this math. Confirm your specific numbers with a CPA before you file.

Step 4: The Property Tax Question — Prop 19 Pushes Many Heirs Toward Selling

Since February 2021, Proposition 19 sharply narrowed the old parent-child property tax break. The parent's low assessed value now transfers only if the child moves into the home as their primary residence and claims the exclusion — filed on form BOE-19-P within three years — and even then the excluded amount is capped (the parent's taxable value plus $1,044,586, as adjusted for 2025) (California BOE Prop 19; BOE adjustment notice).

If you keep the inherited house as a rental or second home, it gets reassessed at full market value — and a home taxed on a 1990s basis can see its property tax bill multiply. This is exactly why so many California heirs run the numbers and decide to sell: the step-up basis makes selling nearly tax-free, while Prop 19 makes keeping expensive.

Step 5: The Sale Itself — Don't Give Back 6% at the Finish Line

An inherited-home sale is still a home sale: disclosures (heirs typically complete a modified disclosure set when they never lived in the property — your agent of record handles which forms apply), pricing from comps, MLS exposure, negotiation, escrow. What it should not involve is losing another five figures to a percentage commission after you've already navigated probate.

California's average total commission runs about 5.5% (Clever California survey) — about $46,475 at the state median. LOQOL's Charlie AI tier lists the same home for a flat $4,399 (up to $1M; $7,999 from $1M–$2M), with Charlie — LOQOL's AI agent — running pricing, disclosures, and workflow while a licensed California agent (DRE #02261474) is the agent of record on every listing. White Glove, the full-service tier with a dedicated licensed agent, is shown at or interpolated to each row's price. Photography is not included in either tier. When siblings are splitting proceeds three ways, the difference between $50,700 and $4,399 is real money for every heir at the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to go through probate to sell an inherited house in California?

Only if the title requires it. Trust-held homes, joint tenancy, and TOD-deed homes skip probate entirely. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a primary residence worth $750,000 or less can pass through a simplified succession petition instead of full probate (California Courts). Everything else goes through formal probate.

How long does probate take in California?

Most formal probates run 9 to 18 months, with a mandatory four-month creditor window and a general one-year completion expectation for the personal representative (California Courts). The small-estate routes run weeks to a few months. For a step-by-step breakdown of the timeline itself — and what actually sets the 9-month floor — see how long probate takes in California.

Can I sell the house while probate is still open?

Usually yes, once the personal representative is appointed. Under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, many probate sales proceed without individual court confirmation of the sale — the level of granted authority determines the oversight.

Do I owe capital gains tax on an inherited house in California?

Usually far less than expected. Your basis steps up to fair market value at the date of death (IRS), so only appreciation after death is taxable gain. California taxes capital gains as ordinary income, but the stepped-up basis applies for state purposes too. Confirm your numbers with a CPA.

What happens to the property taxes if I keep the house instead?

Under Prop 19, unless you move in and claim the parent-child exclusion (BOE-19-P, within three years, exclusion capped at the parent's taxable value + $1,044,586 as adjusted), the home is reassessed at market value (California BOE). For heirs planning to rent the home out, that reassessment often flips the keep-vs-sell math toward selling.

How do I sell an inherited house with multiple siblings on title?

All co-owners (or the personal representative/trustee with authority) must agree to the sale terms and sign. Get the date-of-death appraisal early — it sets both the tax basis and a neutral starting point for the family pricing conversation. If one sibling wants to keep the home, they typically buy out the others at appraised value; if heirs deadlock, a partition action is the expensive last resort.

Where to Go From Here

Start with what the sale should cost: how much it costs to sell a house in California and realtor fees in California. If you're deciding when to list, see the best time to sell a house in California, then the step-by-step selling guide and the flat fee vs. commission pillar.

An inherited home is often the largest single asset a family passes down. The law already gives you two big breaks — the step-up in basis and, for smaller estates, a path around probate. Don't hand the third one back at the closing table: run your numbers through the LOQOL savings calculator or see pricing.

Related: whether you need probate at all depends on how title was held — see do I need probate to sell an inherited house in California for the six routes that skip formal probate, including the $750,000 primary-residence petition.