How to Sell an Inherited House in South Jersey

Who can sell an inherited house in New Jersey?

The personal representative the county Surrogate appoints. With a will, that's the executor it names, who receives letters testamentary. Without one, the Surrogate appoints an administrator, who receives letters of administration. The Surrogate also issues short certificates, the official proof that this person can act. You need one for the sale of each asset in your relative's name alone. They're typically good for up to a year, though some places want one dated within 60 days.

A power of attorney doesn't carry over. It ends at death, so even the son or daughter who paid Mom's bills has to be appointed before selling her house (Gloucester County Surrogate).

With no will, the order to serve starts with the spouse or civil union or domestic partner, then adult children (or a guardian for minor children), then parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and stepchildren. If no family member applies within 40 days of the death, the Surrogate may appoint another fit person, such as a creditor. Anyone applying ahead of a person with an equal or prior right needs that person's renunciation or proof they were notified. In most cases an administrator must also post a surety bond, which protects the heirs and creditors.

Small estates with no will have a shortcut. A surviving spouse can use an Affidavit of Surviving Spouse if everything, real estate included, is worth $50,000 or less. With no spouse, one next of kin, with the others' consent, can use an Affidavit of Next of Kin if the total is $20,000 or less. If there is a will, it must be probated.

How does probate work at the Surrogate's Court?

You apply to the Surrogate in the county where your relative lived. The three South Jersey offices:

1. Find the original will and get death certificates. Certified copies of the death certificate come from the town hall in the town where your relative died.
2. Wait out the first days. You can bring the will in sooner, but Camden County's Surrogate explains that probate and letters happen only after the 11th day after the death.
3. Bring the right papers. With a will: the original will and the death certificate. With no will: proof of death, a list of what your relative owned, an estimate of debts and taxes, and the names and addresses of the heirs. A clerk prepares the forms for you to sign.
4. Get letters and short certificates. Order enough for the house, each bank account and anything else in your relative's name.
5. Notify the family within 60 days. After the will is probated, the executor has 60 days to mail the beneficiaries and next of kin a copy of the will and notice of when and where it was probated.
6. Handle the inheritance tax and the waiver. File Form IT-L-9 or the full return with the Division of Taxation, as explained below. Returns and any tax are due 8 months after the death.
7. Pay the bills, sell or transfer the house, and distribute. Pay debts from an estate checking account. Once debts are paid and money is distributed, each beneficiary signs a Refunding Bond and Release, which is filed with the Surrogate.

How long does it take?

These are the dates to plan around:

How much is New Jersey inheritance tax?

New Jersey taxes each beneficiary based on how they were related to the person who died, using date-of-death values. Where the beneficiaries live doesn't matter; where your relative lived does.

Example: a niece who inherits a $300,000 house owes 15%, or $45,000, before the estate's debts and expenses are subtracted. A brother inheriting the same house owes nothing on the first $25,000 and 11% on the other $275,000, or $30,250. Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary isn't taxed, and a house a married couple owned as "tenants by the entirety" passes to the survivor with no return or waiver needed.

• The tax is due 8 months after the death, with 10% interest a year on anything unpaid after that. A payment on account (Form IT-EP) keeps interest from building on what you pay.
• Returns are filed on paper with the Division in Trenton; there's no e-filing. Checks go to "NJ Inheritance and Estate Tax." Questions: 609-292-5033.
• New Jersey's estate tax doesn't apply to anyone who died on or after January 1, 2018.

Other costs when the estate sells

The seller pays New Jersey's realty transfer fee when the deed is recorded. A sale by the executor to someone not named in the will isn't exempt, and an estate can't use the senior citizen partial exemption. In the Division's own example, a $325,000 sale with no exemption owes $1,910. If your relative lived outside New Jersey, expect 2% of the sale price to be held back at closing as an estimated New Jersey income tax payment. For federal income tax, the basis is generally the house's value on the date of death; our Philadelphia inherited house guide explains why that often means little taxable gain.

Which tax waiver do you need before the house can be sold?

New Jersey's inheritance tax is a lien on everything your relative owned for 15 years unless it's paid or bonded, so real estate can't be transferred without the Division's written consent: a tax waiver called Form 0-1. You can't download it or fill it out yourself. The Division issues it after you file one of these:

• Form IT-L-9, the Affidavit for Resident Decedent Requesting Real Property Tax Waiver(s). For a New Jersey resident whose whole estate goes to Class A beneficiaries, so no tax is due.
• Form IT-R, the full resident return. Required when any beneficiary is Class C, D or E, or tax is due. The waiver follows once the Division processes it.
• Form IT-L-9 NR or IT-NR, when your relative lived in another state, such as Pennsylvania, but owned a South Jersey house.

No waiver is needed for a house held as tenants by the entirety, or one titled to a bona fide trust or an LLC. Form IT-L-8, the do-it-yourself waiver some banks accept, can't be used for real estate.

Can you sell the house while the estate is still open?

Yes. The estate doesn't have to be closed. Once the executor or administrator has letters and short certificates, they can sign the sale. If the waiver hasn't arrived by closing, the title company or the attorneys handling the sale hold money back in escrow until it does; the Division says it doesn't set that amount. Whether the executor also needs the heirs' signatures or a court order depends on the will and the type of letters, so confirm it with a New Jersey estate attorney before you sign a contract.

Check these before you sign:

• The mortgage. Keep paying if you can, and ask the servicer about being confirmed as a "successor in interest" (Federal Trade Commission). If payments are already behind, read our New Jersey foreclosure guide.
• Medicaid. New Jersey can file a claim and lien against the estate to recover Medicaid paid for services your relative received at 55 or older. It recovers only when there is no surviving spouse, no child under 21, and no child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled.
• Debts. They're paid from the estate. Family members usually don't owe them from their own money unless they co-signed (Federal Trade Commission).

What if several heirs share the house?

A will decides who gets what. Without one, New Jersey law does (N.J.S.A. 3B:5-3 and 3B:5-4), and the answer can surprise families: if your parent was married and all the children are also the surviving spouse's children, the spouse inherits everything (Gloucester County Surrogate).

When one or more heirs apply to be administrator, all the other heirs must renounce their right to serve (Gloucester County Surrogate). So siblings decide who will serve, and the rest sign renunciations.

A buyout is often the simplest answer when one sibling wants the house. The Division of Taxation's own example: three siblings inherit a house with a $60,000 mortgage, and one buys out the other two for $200,000. The transfer fee is figured on $240,000, the buyout price plus two-thirds of the mortgage.

If you can't agree, get one neutral valuation, write down the monthly costs, and talk with a New Jersey attorney before anyone digs in. A court fight spends money that would otherwise go to all of you.

What are your options for an inherited house in South Jersey?

A straight answer on price: an as-is cash offer, ours included, is usually below what the house could sell for fully repaired. The buyer pays for the repairs, takes the risk of what's behind the walls, and carries the house until it resells. In return, the estate skips the repair bills, the cleanout, the commission and months of property taxes and utilities. We show our math in how we calculate our offer, and if listing would clearly net your family more, we'll say so.

How can Vivid help?

We're a local, family-owned real estate investment company based in Philadelphia, and we buy inherited houses for cash, as-is, across South Jersey: Camden County (including Barrington and Runnemede), Burlington County and Gloucester County.

• A fair written cash offer, usually within 24 hours, that the whole family can review.
• No repairs and no cleaning. Take what matters to you and leave the rest.
• No agent commissions and no fees from us. We pay all the closing costs, and your written offer shows exactly what you walk away with before you sign.
• The executor picks the closing day, which helps when you're waiting on letters or a waiver.
• A real local person answers, and there's no pressure. If listing is the better choice, we'll tell you.

Get my cash offer Text or call (267) 551-5554

Questions South Jersey families ask

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, talk to a New Jersey attorney or tax professional.