When selling your father’s property, it requires a written will that appoints you as the executor. As executor, you possess the legal authority to carry out the execution of his estate. His property forms a part of his estate, along with all sundry material goods he possesses or possessed. The execution will be done in accordance with local jurisdictional law.
Whether it is because of death, personal enmity, estrangement, divorce, or even by request, having to sell your father’s property is not an easy thing to settle. Quite a number of people have related their struggle to accomplish this task to me. In accordance with the wishes of some of the more forthright among them, I took the liberty to look into ways in which this task can be accomplished with less hassle and more ease. These are some of the points I found!
What can you do if you don’t have a will? Is there any way in which you can carry out the process without the legal authority of an executor? And exactly what are these local jurisdictional laws you need to take into account during the process of selling the property? Let’s have a look at some of the answers to these questions in the following?
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How To Deal With Local Laws Regulating Sales Of Property
There is a bevy of local by-laws governing property sales. From zoning to building stipulations, each of these has to be legally adhered to before embarking on your search for buyers. Estate agents will help you to deal primarily will commercial laws while lawyers will help you navigate the legal challenges affecting your ability to sell.
The ones to take note of and for which you will be billed include:
Property Taxes
Your lawyer will inform you about any outstanding duties levied on your property. This is important since any outstanding fees will and can be cited as a reason against affirming an application to list your property in a registry of properties up for sale in the land office of your local municipality or district.
Zoning or Building Codes
Once more, your lawyer will inform you about the possibility of selling your home in accordance with the prevailing laws regarding zoning, building codes, health codes, and other city by-laws that stipulate when, what, how, and where to build within their designated jurisdiction.
This is important since local superintendents may dispatch inspectors to ensure that these by-laws are adhered to by local residents and your property is deemed to be not up to jurisdictional standards, which can be used as an argument against the sale. In certain cases, a fine or some other form of penalty may be levied against you since you violated local regulations and standards.
Contracting an Assessor
your estate will primarily be involved in obtaining the services of an accredited assessor to assess your property and attach a value to it that is in keeping with the relative market value of your property.
Looking for Buyers
Looking for buyers can be a long, arduous process. To spare yourself the worry, care and effort you will need to obtain the services of an estate agent who will assist you in this process.
Their duties would include helping you to register your property as being up for sale, evaluating the list of possible buyers, assisting you will the negotiating process and generally helping to ensure that you get the best possible deal from the sale.
What If You Don’t Have A Will When Selling Father’s Property?
A will is the most important document in carrying out the execution of an estate, including the sale of property. It stipulates, among other things:
- the assessed value of the property, which it either a definite or estimable number of the property as an asset, enumerated in the sovereign currency of the country in which you reside. This value will be important when looking for buyers in the market as it be used to gage the going price (market value) of your property in relation to other property of it’s kind
- it’s maintenance and care, which includes all stipulated measures to be taken in order to make sure that the property does not fall into disrepair. This will also be a critical factor in deciding your ability to obtain the sale of your property. Buyers will assess the state the house is in and use it as part of their bargain for a lower price during negotiations of sale
- it’s heir(s) i.e. inheritor, a slightly different legal term designating who the new owner is or will be after the death of the current owner. Nonetheless, this is perhaps an even more important title to inherent if you want to sell the property, since the heir, as the new owner, has final decision making authority regarding the sale of property. If the owner refuses to sell, it is beyond the power of the executor to either interdict or rescind this decision
- whether or not it should be sold or sold in part and not whole, is an important factor that informs the decision making process regarding the sale of property.
There are other factors outlined in a will that form an important outline of the rules and guidelines to be followed as the executor of a property.
There above are among the more important ones. Together they confer the chief duties and responsibilities that you will consider and confront during the process of sale of property.
All of this points to the fact that it is almost impossible to conduct a sale of property without a deceased ‘s will. Almost. There are primarily two ways in which it can be done without the legal guidance of a will.
This includes:
- written consent: in the form of an official, certified affidavit or similar document giving consent to cede the ownership rights to the property to a designated person and/or group. If you are designated owner to the ownership rights have been ceded, then the property is yours to do with as you please
- a title deed: this should be primarily arranged with your father during the period in which they’re is still alive. Barring this, title deeds can either be obtained as a part of your father’s provisions in their will or the above mentioned process of ceding ownership ship rights.
Now having obtained a working knowledge behind the possibility of selling your father’s property, you may wonder to yourself as to how to get it done. For this, you will need to primarily acquire the services of two professional intermediaries, a lawyer, and an estate agent.
Both of these professionals will be integral in helping you navigate the complexities of local jurisdictional laws which have legal authority over your property sale.
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Conclusion
Selling your father’s property, or any property for that matter is a complex and exhausting process. Fraught on all sides by legislative, regulatory challenges to your power to affect the sale of your father’s property, it requires you to exercise a level of vigilance to laws that most people are unaccustomed to.
With the help of a trusted lawyer and estate agent, most of these challenges can be overcome. If and when all of these guidelines have been effectively pursued and obtained, then, and only then, can you successfully carry out the sale of your father’s property.
Barring a few inescapable caveats here and there, faithful adherence to the above should hold you in good stead in your search for that elusive signature authorizing the sale of the property.
