Selling an inherited house when there are several heirs — and they don’t all agree

Who has to sign to sell?

It depends on where the house sits in the process:

• Formal administration, non-homestead house: the personal representative signs, with a power of sale in the will or a court order (§ 733.613). The other heirs get notice and can object to the court, but they do not each hold a veto.
• Protected homestead: the house belongs to the heirs directly, so every heir signs. One holdout stops a whole-house sale.
• After probate, title in the heirs’ names: every owner signs to sell the whole house. Any owner can sell their own share alone.

When one or more heirs won’t sell

1. Talk to each heir separately. We do this with nearly every estate. A sibling who is “refusing” is often just overwhelmed, grieving, or suspicious of an offer they heard about secondhand. We give every heir the same written offer, answer every question, and never pressure anyone.
2. Buy the heirs who are ready. We purchase individual shares — see selling your share. The heirs who want out get paid; the ones who want to wait, wait, with us as a patient co-owner.
3. A sibling buyout. The one who wants to keep the house buys the others at a fair price. We’ll explain how it’s usually structured and can even buy the departing shares and resell the house to the staying sibling.
4. Partition. The legal last resort under Chapter 64. For inherited property, Florida’s heirs-property law requires an appraisal, gives the other heirs a 45-day right to buy out the share of whoever asked for the sale at appraised value, and sends any sale to the open market through a broker rather than an auction. Expensive and slow; we rarely see families go through with it once a buyer for the individual shares exists.

Short version: if you want the house sold, we pay for the probate and get the attorney working within 24 hours — call or text (727) 353-6206, or use the form.

The personal representative is not the boss of the heirs

A frequent fight: one child is appointed personal representative and the others feel steamrolled, or the personal representative feels abandoned with all the work. In Florida the personal representative has a fiduciary duty to every beneficiary — they must act in the estate’s interest, keep records, and account to the heirs. They are entitled to a fee (§ 733.617) and to reimbursement for what they advance. If you are the personal representative, you may sell the house in the estate’s interest; if you’re a sibling who isn’t, you’re entitled to notice, to see the accounting, and to object to the court. We work with whoever holds the authority and keep everyone else informed.

Who pays the taxes, insurance, and lawn in the meantime?

Legally, the estate (in formal administration) or the co-owners in proportion to their shares (after distribution). In practice, one person ends up paying and resenting it. Keep receipts: in any eventual sale, partition, or buyout, a co-owner who paid more than their share of necessary expenses is entitled to a credit. When we buy, those credits are taken into account at closing so the person who kept the lights on isn’t left holding the bill.

Keeping the family intact

We would rather lose a deal than help one sibling take advantage of another. Everyone receives the same offer and the same information. We never ask one heir to “handle” another. If a family decides to list the house instead, or to keep it, we say good luck and mean it. Families who sell to us tell us the hardest part — the money conversation — got easier once there was one clear number on the table and someone else carrying the probate.

Questions people ask