You inherited a house. That is not the same as wanting one.
An inherited property arrives with a mortgage, a tax bill, insurance that may already have lapsed, and usually a sibling with a different opinion. We buy these regularly and we work around the court, not against it.
Talk through the estateProbate in Kentucky runs through district court
Unlike most matters, Kentucky probate is handled in district court rather than circuit court, county by county. The executor or administrator has to be appointed before anyone has authority to sign a deed, and depending on how the will was written and what the court requires, selling real estate may need court approval on top of that.
The practical effect is that the estate cannot always close on the buyer's schedule. We are used to that. We can go under contract early and wait for authorization rather than pressuring the family to rush the court, which is not something a retail buyer with a rate lock can do.
Kentucky has an inheritance tax, which surprises people
Kentucky is one of a small number of states that still levies an inheritance tax, and it is assessed on the beneficiary rather than the estate. Close relatives fall into an exempt class, but more distant relatives and non relatives do not, and the rate climbs the further out you go.
This matters when a house is left to a niece, a friend, a step relative, or split among a mix of people. Two heirs can receive equal shares and owe very different amounts. Talk to a Kentucky estate attorney or CPA about your class before you plan around a number, because we cannot advise on it and neither can any buyer.
When the heirs do not agree
This is the most common reason an inherited house sits empty for years. One person wants to keep it, one wants to sell, one has stopped answering the phone, and meanwhile the taxes accrue and the insurer cancels the policy because nobody lives there.
Every owner on the deed has to sign. If someone will not, the legal remedy in Kentucky is a partition action, which is slow and expensive and rarely leaves the family better off. Often a clean written offer everyone can see moves the conversation further than another round of arguing, because it turns an abstract disagreement into a specific number.
Specific situations we buy in
Each of these gets its own page as we publish them. If yours is on this list, we have bought one like it.
- Inherited house
- Probate sale
- Selling as executor
- No will
- Multiple heirs who disagree
- Heir property
- Parent passed away
- Spouse passed away
- Divorce
- Separation
- Out of state owner
- Job relocation
- Military PCS orders
- Moving to a nursing home
- Medicaid spend down
- Downsizing
- Guardianship or conservatorship
- Power of attorney sale
- Disability or illness
- House full of belongings
Five questions. That is the whole thing.
We already know your situation from this page. Change it if it does not fit.
Question 1 of 5
What people ask us first
Can we sell before probate is finished?
Sometimes, depending on the type of administration and whether the executor has authority to sell. It varies by county and by how the will was drafted. Your probate attorney will know. We can be under contract while that gets sorted out.
What if there was no will?
Then Kentucky intestate succession decides who inherits, and the court appoints an administrator. It adds steps but it does not prevent a sale. We buy intestate estates regularly.
Do we have to clean out our parent's house first?
No. Take what you want and leave everything else. For most families this is the single biggest relief in the whole process.
There are five heirs in three states. Is that a problem?
No. Closings can be handled remotely with mail away documents and remote notarization. Nobody has to fly in.
Maybe one of these fits better
Talk through the estate, today.
No cost, no obligation, and nobody shows up at your door unless you ask them to.