How is an estate sale different from a regular sale?

An estate sale is a sale in which the title owner has died, and the executor named in their will and/or appointed by the court signs the documents and completes the transaction on the behalf of the beneficiaries of the deceased person’s estate. It is important to confirm the executor is entitled to deal with the assets of the estate, which may involve reviewing the will and/or applying to the court for a certificate of appointment. There is often a tax that must be paid by the executor on the value of the estate before the court will grant the certificate to the executor. The process of applying to the court to be certified to deal with the estate assets is called “probate.” In most cases, probate must be completed before the estate property can be sold, and the timeframe for receiving the probate certificate is not always easy to estimate, ranging from a few days to a few months, depending how busy the courts are.

With an estate sale, there is an additional document that must be registered on title, called a Transmission Application, which indicates ownership of the property has been transferred from the deceased title owner to the executor as a trustee for the estate. Title is then transferred through a document called the Transfer by Personal Representative to the buyer of the property.

A lawyer acting on an estate purchase or sale may charge an additional fee for the additional work involved.