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Law Firm: Muroff, Milestone & Milestone ↗

For Sellers

Selling a loved one's property: authority first, then everything else

You can't sell what the record says you don't own yet. Estate sales close smoothly when the legal authority is sequenced before the marketing — and painfully when it isn't. We run both tracks together.

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The sequence that works

  • Step 1 — Determine what's needed: probate (summary or formal), or none at all (trust-held, Lady Bird deed, or survivorship title may bypass it)
  • Step 2 — Open the proceeding early: the law firm can file while the property is being prepared for market (separate engagement)
  • Step 3 — List with honest dates: the contract should reflect the authority timeline, with court-approval contingencies where needed
  • Step 4 — Close with clean documents: personal representative's deed, letters, orders — examined by our attorney-supervised title team

Homestead: the question that changes everything

If the property was the decedent's Florida homestead, constitutional rules govern who takes it and how it can be sold — surviving spouses and minor children have rights that override wills, and the 'sale by the estate' may actually be a sale by the heirs individually. Getting the homestead determination right is legal work with title consequences; getting it wrong unwinds closings. It is the first question our team asks on every estate file.

Money mechanics on estate sales

Estate creditors, liens against the decedent, mortgage payoffs, and the costs of administration all meet at the closing statement. Proceeds routinely flow to the estate account — not directly to heirs — until administration allows distribution. We build the settlement statement around the estate's legal reality, and coordinate with the probate attorney (ours under separate engagement, or yours) so nothing disbursed creates a problem later.

Questions

Frequently asked

Probate hasn't been opened. How long until we can close?

Summary administration (available for smaller estates or deaths more than two years past) can move in weeks; formal administration typically takes months, though sale authority can often be obtained during administration. The real answer requires reading your facts — the escalation lane or a call gets you an honest timeline quickly.

All the heirs agree — can we skip probate?

Agreement doesn't move title; the record does. Unless the property passes outside probate (trust, survivorship, enhanced life estate deed), some proceeding is generally required for insurable title. The good news: cooperative heirs make the required proceeding faster and cheaper.

Can the buyer's deposit go hard before probate finishes?

Contracts can be built either way — which is why the drafting matters. A well-drafted estate-sale contract aligns deposit risk with the authority timeline. Have it reviewed before signing; the law firm can do that under a separate engagement.

Ready to close with confidence?

Order title, upload your contract, or talk to our attorney-supervised closing team today.

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