Guide · Probate and trust sales
Escrow for probate and trust sales
When an executor, administrator, trustee or conservator sells a home, escrow follows the court’s rules as well as the contract. Some probate sales need a judge to confirm the sale at a hearing, where other buyers can bid more. Others go ahead after a written notice to the heirs. A trustee of a living trust can usually sell without going to court.
Words you’ll hear
Probate sales come with their own vocabulary. Here’s what the words mean.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Personal representative | The person the court appoints to handle an estate: gathering the property, paying the bills and passing on what’s left (California Courts). It covers both an executor and an administrator. |
| Executor | The person a will names to handle the estate. The court still has to appoint them. |
| Administrator | The person the court appoints when there’s no will, or when no one the will names can serve. Close family come first in line. |
| Letters | The court papers that give a personal representative the power to act. The appointment takes effect only when letters are issued (Probate Code §8400). |
| Independent Administration of Estates Act | The law that lets a court give a personal representative the power to handle many steps without a hearing (Probate Code §10400). |
| Full authority | Power under that law that includes selling real estate without court confirmation, after notice to the heirs (Probate Code §10511). |
| Limited authority | The same power minus four things: selling, trading or giving an option on real estate, and borrowing against it. A sale still goes to court (Probate Code §10403). |
| Notice of proposed action | A written notice to heirs and beneficiaries that describes a planned sale, with the price and any commission, sent at least 15 days ahead (Probate Code §10586). |
| Court confirmation | A hearing where a judge reviews the sale and approves it before the home changes hands (Probate Code §10308). |
| Overbid | A higher offer made in court at the confirmation hearing. It has to beat the accepted price by a set amount (Probate Code §10311). |
| Trustee | The person who manages a trust and its property. A successor trustee takes over when the first one dies or steps down. |
| Certification of trust | A short, signed and notarized summary of the trust that a trustee can show instead of the whole trust (Probate Code §18100.5). |
| Conservator | A person the court appoints to act for an adult who can’t manage alone, including handling that adult’s property. That adult is the conservatee. |
Who signs for the seller?
It depends on how the owner held the home. If the home goes through probate, the personal representative sells it. That person can’t act until the court issues their letters, even if the will names them (Probate Code §8400).
If the home is in a living trust, the trustee sells it under the trust’s terms. If the owner has a conservator, the conservator sells it, usually with the court’s approval (Probate Code §2540).
Escrow and the title company need proof of that authority before closing: certified letters, a court order or a certification of trust, depending on the sale.
Where is the money in a probate or trust sale?
In escrow, until the seller’s authority is proven and any court step is done.
- HeldThe buyer’s deposit, then the rest of the price
- CheckedThe seller’s letters, court order or trust papers, plus any notice period or hearing
- ReleasedLoans and costs are paid, then the estate, the trust or the conservatee gets the rest
Full authority or limited authority?
A court can give a personal representative authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. It comes in two kinds, and the kind decides how the home is sold (Probate Code §10402, §10501, §10503).
Full authority
- The home can be sold without a court hearing
- Heirs and beneficiaries are sent a notice of proposed action at least 15 days before the sale
- A written objection sends the sale to court for confirmation
- The court confirmation rules, like the 90 percent rule, don’t apply
Limited authority
- The sale needs court confirmation
- A notice of the sale is usually published first
- A private sale must bring at least 90 percent of a recent appraisal
- Other buyers can overbid at the hearing
How a court-confirmed sale works
The court’s calendar drives the timing. Most court-confirmed sales follow this order.
Step 1: An offer, subject to the court
The personal representative accepts an offer that depends on the court confirming it. The buyer’s deposit goes to escrow.
Step 2: Notice and appraisal
Usually, a notice of the sale runs in a newspaper in the county where the home is (Probate Code §10300). For a private sale, the home must have been appraised within a year of the hearing, and the offer must be at least 90 percent of that value (§10309).
Step 3: The hearing
The judge looks at the sale and at the effort made to get the best price, and anyone with an interest can object (§10310). Other buyers can make a higher written offer in court. The first overbid must add at least 10 percent of the first $10,000 of the accepted price, plus 5 percent of the rest (§10311).
Step 4: The order
The court confirms the sale to the highest qualified bidder. That may be the first buyer, or someone who bid more at the hearing. The order directs the personal representative to sign the deed (§10313).
Step 5: Closing
The personal representative signs the deed. A certified copy of the court order is recorded in the county where the home is (§10314). Escrow pays the loans and costs, then sends the rest to the estate.
Selling with full authority
With full authority, the personal representative can sell the home without a court hearing, and the court confirmation rules don’t apply (Probate Code §10503). First, the heirs and beneficiaries whose share the sale affects get a notice of proposed action (§10581). It gives the price and any commission (§10585). It has to go out at least 15 days before the date it names (§10586).
Anyone who gets the notice can object in writing before that date. If someone does, the sale goes to court for confirmation instead (§10589). People who agree with the sale can sign a written consent, and then they don’t need the notice (§10582).
A sale to the personal representative, or to their attorney, still needs the court in most cases, whatever the authority (§10501).
Selling a home held in a trust
California law says trusts are meant to run without court involvement, though a court can step in if asked (Probate Code §17209). So a trustee can usually sell a trust’s home the way the trust allows, with no hearing and no overbids.
The trustee proves their authority with a certification of trust. It’s a short, signed and notarized statement of the trust’s key facts, such as who the trustee is and what the trustee may do, and it stands in for the full trust (§18100.5).
If an owner or trustee named on the title has died, an affidavit of death is usually recorded first, in the county where the home is. It describes the property and comes with a certified copy of the death certificate (§210).
Selling a conservatee’s home
When a conservator sells a conservatee’s property, the court usually has to authorize or confirm the sale (Probate Code §2540).
Selling the conservatee’s present or former home takes more. The conservator tells the court about the plan, talks it over with the conservatee, and reports whether the conservatee agrees. The conservator also explains why the sale is needed, including whether the conservatee can still live there.
What should the seller have ready?
Bring what fits your sale. Your escrow officer will ask for anything else.
Executor or administrator
- A certified copy of the letters
- The court case number
- Your attorney’s name and phone number
- For a court-confirmed sale: the hearing date, and then the signed order
Trustee
- A certification of trust, or the trust and its amendments
- A certified copy of the death certificate, if an owner or trustee has died
- A photo ID for each trustee who signs
Conservator
- A certified copy of the letters of conservatorship
- The court order that authorizes or confirms the sale
How Alliance Mutual Escrow helps
We confirm early what authority the seller holds and what the court requires. Then we set the escrow around the court’s dates, collect the certified papers and prepare a file the title company can accept.
Your attorney handles the legal side. We stay neutral: we follow the contract, the escrow instructions and the court’s orders.
Questions about probate and trust sales
How much higher does an overbid have to be in a probate sale?
The first overbid in court has to add at least 10 percent of the first $10,000 of the accepted price, plus 5 percent of the rest. On an accepted offer of $600,000, that’s at least $630,500: $1,000 plus $29,500 more. The judge takes the highest offer that qualifies, or may order a new sale (Probate Code §10311).
Can an executor sell a house without court confirmation?
Does a trustee need a court’s approval to sell a house?
Usually not. California law intends trusts to run without court involvement, so a trustee can sell as the trust allows (Probate Code §17209). The trustee shows their authority with a certification of trust instead of the whole trust (Probate Code §18100.5).
Does a probate sale have to bring 90 percent of the appraised value?
In a court-confirmed private sale, yes. The home must have been appraised within a year of the hearing, and the offer must be at least 90 percent of that value (Probate Code §10309). In a sale under full authority, the 90 percent rule doesn’t apply (Probate Code §10503).
Does the seller in a probate or trust sale give a disclosure statement?
Usually not. The Transfer Disclosure Statement and the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement aren’t required when a probate court orders the sale, or when an executor, administrator, trustee or conservator sells while managing the property (Civil Code §§1102.2 and 1103.1). One exception: a trustee of a revocable trust who once owned the home, or lived in it within the past year, still has to give them.
Sources and fine print
- California Courts: Guide to property after someone dies
- Cal. Probate Code §8400 (letters)
- Cal. Probate Code §§10300 to 10316 (sale of real property, court confirmation and overbids)
- Cal. Probate Code §§10400 to 10406 (the Act; full and limited authority)
- Cal. Probate Code §§10500 to 10503 (what still needs the court)
- Cal. Probate Code §§10510 to 10520 (selling after a notice of proposed action)
- Cal. Probate Code §§10580 to 10592 (notice of proposed action)
- Cal. Probate Code §2540 (conservatorship sales)
- Cal. Probate Code §17209 (trusts run without the court)
- Cal. Probate Code §18100.5 (certification of trust)
- Cal. Probate Code §210 (affidavit of death)
- Cal. Civil Code §1102.2 (disclosure statement exemptions)
- Cal. Civil Code §1103.1 (natural hazard disclosure exemptions)
Sources checked September 2026. Page updated . General information, not legal or tax advice.