Selling a Deceased's House UK: Executor Guide 2026

At a glance

• Who has authority to sell: only the executor(s) named in the will, or the administrator(s) under intestacy, and only once the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration has been issued.
• Before the grant: you can market the property and accept an offer in principle, but you cannot exchange contracts — legal title has not yet passed to you.
• Probate timescale: GOV.UK gives a typical timescale of around 12 weeks from a complete application to the grant, though complex or paper applications often take longer.
• Inheritance tax deadline: due by the end of the sixth month after death; for land and property you can elect under section 227 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 to pay in 10 yearly instalments, the first due at the six-month deadline.
• Capital gains tax: the estate's acquisition cost is the date-of-death ("probate") value; CGT is only payable if the property later sells for more than that value, less allowable costs and the personal representatives' annual exempt amount.
• Land Registry step before completion: the conveyancer registers the death and the executors' authority (using the sealed grant), then either an assent (Form AS1) to a beneficiary or a transfer (Form TR1) to a buyer.
• Typical overall timeline: nine to fourteen months from death to final distribution for a straightforward estate with one property.

Overview

When someone dies owning property in their sole name, that property cannot be sold until the executor has legal authority to deal with it. That authority comes from the Grant of Probate (where there is a will) or Letters of Administration (where there is not) — together known as a grant of representation.

Until the grant is issued, the executor can market the property and even accept an offer in principle, but contracts cannot be exchanged and title cannot be transferred to a buyer. The executor's job is to gather in the assets of the estate, pay any debts and tax due, and then distribute what is left to the beneficiaries named in the will (or to those entitled under the intestacy rules if there is no will).

Selling the house is usually central to that process, either because the will directs a sale or because the proceeds are needed to settle liabilities and divide the estate fairly. Executors carry personal responsibility for acting in the beneficiaries' best interests, so decisions around price, timing and disclosure all need careful thought. GOV.UK's overview of dealing with the estate of someone who's died sets out the full sequence of an executor's duties.

Key steps

1. Register the death and locate the will. Before anything else, register the death at the local register office and obtain several certified copies of the death certificate. You will need these for the bank, insurer, utility companies and the probate application. Find the original will and check whether the deceased left any written wishes about the property.
2. Secure and insure the property. An empty house is a risk. Notify the buildings insurer that the property is now unoccupied, because standard policies often restrict or exclude cover after a set number of days empty. Change the locks if keys are unaccounted for, redirect post, keep the heating on low in winter, and visit regularly or arrange for someone to do so.
3. Get the property valued and apply for probate. Obtain a written valuation as at the date of death, usually from an estate agent or a RICS surveyor — see how to value an estate for Inheritance Tax. This figure feeds into the inheritance tax position and the probate application, and later becomes the acquisition cost for capital gains tax. Complete the relevant IHT return and the probate application, then submit everything through the applying for probate service and wait for the grant.
4. Market the property and check the title. You can list the property while probate is pending, but buyers should be told that exchange depends on the grant being issued. Ask the conveyancer to pull the title from HM Land Registry early to flag any restrictions, charges, missing deeds, mortgages or co-ownership issues (such as a Form A restriction indicating a tenancy in common) that could slow the sale.
5. Exchange, complete and account to beneficiaries. Once probate is granted, contracts can be exchanged and the sale completed. Proceeds go into the estate account, not to any individual beneficiary. From there you settle any remaining debts, pay final tax liabilities, prepare estate accounts, and distribute the balance in line with the will or the intestacy rules.

Who has the authority to sell — and when it starts

Only the people named as executors in the will, or the administrators appointed under the intestacy rules, have legal authority to deal with the deceased's property. That authority is confirmed by the grant of representation: a Grant of Probate where there is a valid will naming executors, or Letters of Administration where there is no will, or a will that fails to name a working executor.

The grant does two things. It confirms who is legally entitled to administer the estate, and it is the document that banks, HM Land Registry and conveyancers rely on before releasing funds or registering a change of ownership. Before the grant is issued, executors have some limited powers — deriving from the will itself — to protect the estate (insuring the property, for example), but they cannot complete a sale.

If more than one executor is named, they must generally act together. A sale usually needs all acting executors to sign the contract and transfer documents, so early agreement on strategy (asking price, timing, which agent) avoids delay later.

Getting the property valued correctly

The date-of-death valuation matters for two separate reasons, and getting it wrong can create problems on both fronts.

First, it determines how much of the estate is taxable for inheritance tax purposes. Second, under HMRC's capital gains rules, the same figure becomes the property's acquisition cost for the estate if it is later sold — HMRC's Capital Gains Manual confirms that the value used for Inheritance Tax purposes is also the base value for Capital Gains Tax. An unrealistically low valuation might reduce the immediate IHT bill, but it inflates any gain (and therefore any CGT) if the property is later sold for a higher figure. An unrealistically high valuation increases the IHT bill for no good reason. A professional, defensible open-market valuation — ideally from a RICS surveyor or at least two estate agents — protects the executor from both risks and from potential challenge by HMRC or beneficiaries.

Marketing and selling before the grant is issued

Executors are not required to wait for the grant before marketing the property. Many put the house on the market as soon as it is secured and valued, precisely because probate can take weeks or months and running the two processes in parallel saves time.

What executors cannot do before the grant is issued is exchange contracts, because legal title to the property has not yet passed to them. In practice this means:

• The property can be advertised, viewed and an offer accepted "subject to probate."
• The buyer's solicitor should be told at the outset that exchange is conditional on the grant being obtained — this is standard and most experienced conveyancers and cash or onward-chain-free buyers will proceed on this basis.
• Some buyers, particularly those in a related chain, may be unwilling to wait and could walk away. Being upfront about the likely timescale reduces the risk of a late collapse.
• Once the grant is issued, the executors can instruct their conveyancer to proceed to exchange and completion in the normal way.

Checking the title before you sell

Before instructing a conveyancer to prepare contracts, it is worth checking the position at HM Land Registry early, because title problems are one of the most common causes of delay once a buyer is found.

Points to check include:

• Is the title registered at all? Older properties are sometimes still unregistered, which adds time to the process.
• Is there a mortgage or charge outstanding? This needs to be redeemed from sale proceeds, and the lender will need to be notified of the death.
• How was the property owned if there was more than one owner? As explained below, this changes whether probate is even needed for the property.
• Are there any restrictions, easements or missing deeds that need resolving before a buyer's solicitor will proceed.

Once the sale (or a transfer to a beneficiary) is ready to complete, the conveyancer registers the change at HM Land Registry using the sealed grant of representation together with either a transfer (Form TR1) if selling to a buyer, or an assent (Form AS1) if transferring the whole registered title to a beneficiary rather than selling.

If the property was jointly owned

How the property was held between co-owners changes the process substantially.

• Joint tenants: the co-owners hold the whole property together, with no separate individual shares. On the first death, the deceased's interest passes automatically to the surviving joint owner or owners by the right of survivorship. Probate is not normally needed to deal with the property itself, though it may still be needed for the rest of the estate. The survivor (once they have a certified copy of the death certificate) can ask HM Land Registry to remove the deceased's name from the title.
• Tenants in common: each co-owner holds a defined, separate share, which does not pass automatically to the survivor. The deceased's share passes under their will or the intestacy rules, and a grant of representation is usually needed before that share can be sold or transferred. A "Form A restriction" on the title register is the usual sign that a property is held as tenants in common.

GOV.UK's guidance on joint property ownership explains both forms of ownership and how to check which applies to a given title. If it is unclear how the property was held, the title register or the original conveyancing file from when the property was purchased is the place to check.

Inheritance tax and the instalment option

Inheritance tax on the estate — including any tax attributable to the property — is due by the end of the sixth month after the person died (for example, a death in January means tax is due by 31 July). This deadline typically falls before probate is granted and, often, well before the house has sold.

For land and property, executors do not have to find that money upfront. Under section 227 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, the tax attributable to a qualifying asset such as land can be paid in ten equal yearly instalments, with the first instalment due at the normal six-month deadline. This election allows the probate application to proceed without the full bill being paid first.

A few practical points on the instalment option:

• Interest runs on the outstanding balance from the payment due date, and on the unpaid instalments themselves in most circumstances — check current HMRC guidance for how interest is calculated.
• If the property is sold before all ten instalments are paid, the remaining tax (and any interest) becomes payable immediately, usually settled directly from the sale proceeds.
• Many executors use the instalment option specifically to bridge the gap between the six-month tax deadline and completion of the sale, then clear the outstanding balance from the proceeds.

Full guidance, including how to get a payment reference and other payment methods, is at GOV.UK's pay your Inheritance Tax bill page — always check it for current rates, thresholds and interest rules, as these are reviewed periodically.

Capital gains tax on the sale

Capital gains tax is a separate question from inheritance tax, and it only arises if the property increases in value between the date of death and the date of sale.

The date-of-death (probate) value becomes the estate's acquisition cost for CGT purposes. If the property later sells for more than that value, after deducting allowable costs such as estate agent commission and legal fees, the estate may have a taxable gain. Personal representatives have their own annual exempt amount, separate from any individual beneficiary's allowance, which can be set against the gain — check GOV.UK for the current amount, as it changes periodically. Property that has increased significantly in value during a slow probate process, or because of a booming local market, is the scenario most likely to generate a CGT liability that catches executors by surprise.

Because the probate valuation and the CGT acquisition cost are the same figure, getting that initial valuation right does double duty: it protects against an inflated IHT bill and against an artificially low base value that later magnifies a CGT charge. See GOV.UK's guidance on capital gains tax on inherited assets and tax on property, money and shares you inherit.

Running costs while the property sits empty

The period between death and completion is rarely free of ongoing cost, and budgeting for it upfront avoids nasty surprises for the estate.

• Buildings insurance: unoccupied property insurance, or an endorsement to the existing policy confirming the property is empty, is essential — most standard policies exclude or restrict cover once a property has been empty beyond a set number of days.
• Council tax: some local authorities offer a discretionary exemption or discount for a property left empty following a death, typically time-limited; check with the relevant council directly, as rules vary by authority.
• Utilities and standing charges: even with usage minimised, standing charges usually continue and should be budgeted for from estate funds.
• General maintenance: regular visits or an arranged check-in reduce the risk of undetected issues such as leaks, which insurers may treat unfavourably if the property has clearly been neglected.

Risks and common mistakes

• Exchanging contracts before the grant is issued. This cannot lawfully happen and any attempt to bind the estate before the executor has authority creates problems for everyone involved.
• Under- or over-valuing the property for probate. As set out above, this has consequences for both inheritance tax and any later capital gains tax.
• Not checking how the property was co-owned. Treating a tenancy-in-common share as if it passed automatically by survivorship (or vice versa) can derail a sale part-way through.
• Selling to yourself as executor without safeguards. This is treated as "self-dealing" and can be set aside by beneficiaries or the court unless it is properly authorised — see the FAQ below.
• Ignoring the six-month IHT deadline because the house hasn't sold yet. The instalment option exists precisely to solve this problem; missing the payment deadline or the election can generate interest charges unnecessarily.
• Letting insurance lapse on an empty property. A claim on a lapsed or invalid policy can leave the estate — and potentially the executor personally — exposed.
• Failing to act fairly between beneficiaries with different interests. Where one beneficiary wants to buy the house and others want it sold on the open market, executors need to tread carefully and document their reasoning.

What to do next

Selling a deceased person's property touches probate, tax, conveyancing and — often — family dynamics, all at once. Getting the sequence right (secure the property, value it accurately, apply for the grant, market carefully, check the title early, handle the tax elections correctly) avoids most of the common pitfalls described above.

If your situation involves a disputed valuation, disagreement between beneficiaries, unclear co-ownership, or uncertainty about the tax position, it is often worth talking it through before you commit to a course of action, since the right answer depends heavily on the specific facts.

This guide provides general information about selling a deceased person's property in England and Wales. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The law and guidance described was accurate as at August 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the most current position.

Last reviewed: August 2026 by a non-practising solicitor · Next review due: August 2027 or on legislative change.