Selling an Inherited House With Siblings

This is the co-owner page. It is not the first-week “I inherited a house” overview, and it is not the probate-basics explainer.

If you just got the keys and you are not sure whether probate is required, start at inherited house in St. Louis. If a file is already open and you want the cash-sale path, use probate or inherited. The older long-form post selling an inherited house in Missouri, probate and fast cash options covers timelines and estate process in general. The yes/no is can I sell a house in probate in Missouri?.

Stay here when the fight (or the silence) is among siblings. One of you wants to sell. One wants to keep it. One lives in Denver and will not return calls. Title does not referee that. Neither do we.

I am David Dodge, Senior Buyer at House Sold Easy. We buy inherited houses as-is for cash once the people who actually own the house, or the personal representative who has authority, can sign. We cannot force a sibling to sell. This is not legal advice.

Two different problems that get mixed together

Problem A: the estate still owns the house. A personal representative (sometimes called an executor) may be the one who signs a personal-representative deed. Siblings can disagree about price and timing and still not each need to sign the deed, if the letters actually give that person authority to sell. Title reads the letters. A group text does not replace them.

Problem B: the estate already distributed the house. The siblings are now owners, usually as tenants in common. Every owner must sign, or a court must order a sale. “Mom would have wanted this” is not a signature.

Call us with whichever problem you actually have. If you are not sure, say so. The title company will tell us who has to appear on the deed. We will not guess you through a shortcut that fails at closing.

Independent administration: what the statute actually says

Missouri independent administration is the path where the personal representative can act without asking the court to bless every step. It is still a fiduciary job.

RSMo 473.810 lists powers of an independent personal representative. Subsection (16) says that, except as restricted or otherwise provided by the will, an independent personal representative, acting reasonably for the benefit of the interested persons, may sell, mortgage, or lease any real or personal property of the estate for cash, credit, or part cash and part credit, with or without security for unpaid balances.

That is sale authority in independent administration. It is not a blank check to ignore the will, and it is not a command that every sibling must like the price.

RSMo 473.787 says an independent personal representative proceeds with settlement and distribution without adjudication, order, or direction of the court, except as those independent-administration sections specify, and may still ask the court to resolve questions. The same section requires an independent personal representative who is not a member in good standing of the Missouri bar to secure the advice and services of an attorney on legal questions arising in connection with the transfer and encumbrance of property of the estate (and several other listed tasks). If the personal representative is a Missouri attorney, that attorney-on-transfer requirement is the exception the statute writes.

Read those two sections on the Revisor. Do not treat a Facebook summary as the rule.

What 473.837 is not

Families sometimes hear a case number and assume every petition is a sale petition. RSMo 473.837 is a settlement and distribution petition in independent administration. It is not the statute that gives someone power to sell the house. If a lawyer is filing 473.837, that is about closing the estate’s books and distributing assets, a different job from conveying the real estate during administration.

Do not cite 473.837 to a title company as “the sale order.” If you have a paper in hand and you do not know what it is, show it to the estate attorney and to title.

Supervised sales use a petition

Supervised administration is the more court-facing path. Selling real property there is not a hallway conversation.

RSMo 473.493 is the petition to sell, mortgage, or lease real estate. The personal representative files a petition that states the reason and describes the property. The court sets a hearing. Notice goes to heirs and devisees who are interested persons, by mail or publication or both as the court orders. After satisfactory proofs, the court may order the sale.

That is the supervised-sale door. Your attorney runs it. We can write an offer that is subject to the authority title requires. We do not file the petition for you, and we do not appear as your lawyer.

City probate and County probate are different courthouses

The City of St. Louis is an independent city. St. Louis County is a different county. A house in Dutchtown and a house in Affton do not share a probate clerk. If the estate is open, the caption on the letters tells you which courthouse. If you are not sure which government the parcel sits in, that is a City-versus-County title fact. See selling in St. Louis City vs County.

The deed is still the deed. City versus County does not change who must sign. It changes which recorder and which probate division you may already be in.

After distribution, everyone on title has to sign

Once the house is out of the estate and into the heirs’ names as tenants in common, we are no longer talking about a personal-representative deed. We are talking about a regular seller deed. All owners sign, or a court orders a sale in a proceeding your attorney designs. House Sold Easy cannot sue your brother. We cannot “outvote” a sister who is on the deed. We cannot close on a notary stamp you hope to get later.

A parent’s move to care can sit underneath an inherited-house fight when siblings are already managing the house. The logistics page is moving to assisted living.

What we can do, and what we will not pretend to do

We can walk the house in about 30 minutes with whoever has a key. We buy as-is. Furniture, boxes, and a basement full of a life can stay. We typically cover our standard closing costs. Typical close is about two weeks after a written offer when title is ready, and “when title is ready” includes having the right people able to sign.

We will not:

Force a sibling to sell
Open probate for you
Tell you a transfer-on-death deed is valid without title review
Mediate a family fight into a signature
Split a purchase price in a way the deed and the court papers do not support

If authority exists, we write an offer. If it does not, we will say so. The honest next call is your probate attorney, not a different cash buyer who claims to have a workaround.

Out-of-town siblings

A lot of these files are one local child and two siblings on other time zones. A neighbor, a lockbox, or a property manager is enough for our walkthrough. Remote signing is a title-company question once the file is open. You do not have to fly everyone to Brentwood for the first look.

Bring what you have: death certificate, will, letters, case number, attorney name, tax bills, and a list of who thinks they own a share. That is enough to start. We have bought 1,000+ houses in Missouri and Illinois since 2016. The office is 1750 S Brentwood Blvd, Suite 503, Brentwood, MO 63144. About 75 miles of St. Louis. Google shows 4.7 from 65+ reviews.

The three steps stay the same as how it works: call, walkthrough, written offer, then a date you pick when title allows.

Common questions

Can one sibling sell if the others disagree?

Only if that sibling is the person with legal authority (often an independent personal representative whose letters allow a sale) or if a court has ordered the sale. After distribution, all owners must sign. We cannot force a sibling.

Do we all have to empty the house first?

No. We buy as-is. Tell us what stays.

Is 473.837 the statute that lets us sell?

No. RSMo 473.837 is a settlement and distribution petition. Independent sale authority lives in 473.810(16). Supervised sales use the 473.493 petition.

City house or County house: does that change the siblings rule?

It changes the courthouse and the recorder. It does not change the need for the current owners, or the personal representative, to sign.

Is this legal advice?

No. Read the Revisor links. Hire a Missouri probate attorney for your facts.

Who should I call at House Sold Easy?

David Dodge or Michael Slane. 636-525-1566.

Selling an Inherited House With Siblings in Missouri