After cremations as part of the cremation services offered in Greenbelt, MD, the executor of the deceased person’s estate is responsible for handling all the matters of the estate, which may include selling the deceased’s house and distributing the proceeds among the beneficiaries of the estate.

Your loved one may have already specified what they want done with any real estate they own, include their personal home. They may have decided to leave it to one of the beneficiaries of their estate. Or they may have specified that it be sold and the proceeds distributed equally among the beneficiaries or to go to a specific beneficiary.

Much of what will be done with your loved one’s house will depend on whether it is paid for, has a mortgage, or a reverse mortgage. These scenarios may override your loved one’s stated wishes.

If the house was owned outright by your loved one, and they wanted it to go to a specific beneficiary, then this is perhaps your simplest scenario. The beneficiary gets the house, and then they can keep it or sell it as their personal property.

However, if the house has a mortgage on it, then the beneficiary will need to get a new mortgage in their name to take ownership of the house. If the beneficiary is unable or unwilling to do this, then the house can be sold to pay the mortgage off. Any money remaining after the mortgage is paid off will go to the designated beneficiary.

If the house has a reverse mortgage on it, then it belongs to the bank after your loved one dies, and the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) get nothing.

Your loved one may have also specified that their house be sold and the money split between the beneficiaries. If the house is paid for, this will be a simple matter of selling the house and splitting the money.

However, if the house has a mortgage, then the mortgage must be paid off before any of the sales proceeds can be distributed to the beneficiaries.

If you will be selling your loved one’s house as part of your role of the executor of the estate, you should contact a real estate professional as soon as possible. A real estate professional can give you insights about comparable home prices in the area and they can make suggestions about repairs or upgrades that will make the home more marketable.

It’s not a bad idea, if your selling a home as the executor of an estate, to get the house appraised by a professional appraiser. The appraisal value listed on tax documents is not necessarily truly what the house and property are worth. A professional appraiser can give you the house and property’s true value so that you can share that with beneficiaries and you can have an idea of what the price it should be listed for.

If the proceeds of the house are to be split among beneficiaries, and one beneficiary wants to buy the house, you cannot let that beneficiary buy the house at a price that’s lower than its market value, because that’s unfair to the rest of the beneficiaries. Use the appraiser’s price as a starting point to talk with all the beneficiaries about what price they’d be willing to have one beneficiary buy the house for.

If you want more information about cremation services offered in Greenbelt, MD, you can talk with our expert staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. You can drop by our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or you can contact us today at (301) 937-1707.