My Florida Seller Died - Now What Happens to the Real Estate?
Death in Real Estate does occur. Lately, I have run into 2 occasions where the seller of the real estate property is now deceased. Yes, sometimes the unexpected situation occurs. The first perspective relates to a home my buyers and I fell in love with while they were searching to purchase a home. The buyers and I were not informed of this horrible news, that both of the sellers had passed, the husband and wife, until our contract was signed. The seller's disclosure was missing important information saying I do not know for some of the answers, which was the first clue. During the inspection we were finally informed of this sad news. We could tell this was a happy home full of laughter and good times. It was a beautiful luxury home with lush tropical landscaping, a beautiful pool with a patio area and a canal in the back. The probate process had already occurred and a personal representative was appointed for the estate. The deceased parents were so young that a will was not involved, intestate, and one of the decedent's adult children, a rightful heir was handling the affairs. The As/Is Florida Residential Contract was used.
My second set of circumstances occurred this year to one of my property owners. Another young individual fell ill and died of a heart attack in his early 60's. He is a foreign seller who lived in Brazil and loved coming to South Florida. This was not the first home that he bought with me. Now we are dealing with the sadness of his loss and the affairs of going through the probate process with his family. Without Florida probate and a Florida attorney, the heirs cannot sell the real estate. This process of hiring an attorney to open a court filing, and formally transferring title from the deceased to the rightful heirs is probate. Due to being a foreign seller without a will, there will be many tax consequences for the family to deal with.
