A home was left to me (only child, only beneficiary of the will) by my mother. She had a living will with a codicil dealing with incapacitation. She had a stroke, and I was the named trust beneficiary. I then legally took over her affairs, and cared for her in her own home until she passed away just shy of five years later. The county still lists the home in the name of the Living Trust, but with me as the "aff" (county abbreviation), with the complete Acceptance By Successor Trustee online. I tried to speak to someone at the County, but that was practically useless.

My question is this: as I am contemplating selling the home, will I first be legally required to deed over the home from the Me as Successor Trustee to me the Individual, or will it make any difference when I choose to sell the home? The home carries no debt. Thanks!

Expert advice? Go see a Real Estate Attorney and possibly an Estate Planning Attorney.

Yes, speaking to an attorney would be wise but I have been through something similar and was able to easily transfer title of property while I was the administrator of my mom's estate.

I believe as long as you have power of attorney and/or the proper authority, clear title is passed as a part of the transaction.

When we had to put mom in the nursing home we put her house in a living trust. My oldest sister is the first successor or whatever the right word is. And has power of attorney. When we sold the house she signed everything.

as others have said, you're probably going to be ok as is... if there are any issues, the title company handling the closing will steer you in the right direction and so i don't think an attorney's opinion is going to benefit you much.

My advise would be to speak to an attorney or start the title work at title company BEFORE you decide to list. That way if any issues come up it will not hold up a closing or give the buyer an excuse to bail.

Thank you all for your insightful information and advice!

Since this was an inherited house I want to pass this on. Something I learned today. At least if my attorney and research is right.

We had an irrevocable trust created when mom became incapacitated. Every asset went into it including the house. We immediately set out to sell the house to guarantee funds to pay for mom's care. I learned this morning that irrevocablee trusts are not able to claim the primary residence capital gains exemption. So the trust, or mom, had to pay aprox. 20k in capital gains tax. From my attorney and research I've done today I believe that revocable trusts aren't subject to capital gains tax on the sale of a primary residence and sale of the home by the resident definitely isn't if sale income is below 250k. The lawyer that set up the trust knew we were selling the house ASAP. He should have known this.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer, you'd probably just issue yourself a trustee's deed if you're the only beneficiary, deed the property to yourself or a new trust. I'm not sure about the tax end of that and whether that would subject the estate to capital gains. That's one of the problems with practicing law heavily in one area (trusts and estates) while only having a dabbling of knowledge from a tax law class I took 10+ years ago in taxation. You might contact a JDCPA for some better answers.

My advise would be to speak to an attorney or start the title work at title company BEFORE you decide to list. That way if any issues come up it will not hold up a closing or give the buyer an excuse to bail.

GOD yes on this. How many times have I been approached by a client in the middle of handling the estate who brings me the property already under contract without having court authorization.

The process takes at least 45 days. Notices have to be published, heirs have to be noticed. This isn't a simple process.

as others have said, you're probably going to be ok as is... if there are any issues, the title company handling the closing will steer you in the right direction and so i don't think an attorney's opinion is going to benefit you much.

And ultimately, this is true. My work on estates involves jumping through whatever hoops the Title Examiner sets out for me. Whether those are hoops with any basis in law or fact, if they say jump, you ask how high.

How hard is it to start a title company?

I'll bet the insurance cost is prohibitive.