Losing a parent or a sibling is hard enough. Then the phone calls start: the mortgage company, the county tax office, a cousin asking “what are we going to do with the house?” If you’ve inherited a home in Augusta, Evans, Hephzibah, or anywhere in the CSRA and you’re not sure where to begin, this guide walks through how it actually works in Georgia, in plain language, so you can make a calm decision instead of a rushed one.
We buy inherited houses every month, and we’ve sat at a lot of kitchen tables with families in this exact spot. Nothing here is legal advice, and a good probate attorney is worth every dollar, but you should understand the road before you drive it.
First question: is the house in probate?
Probate is the court process that gives someone legal authority to handle a person’s estate after they pass. In Georgia, it runs through the probate court in the county where the person lived: Richmond County Probate Court for Augusta, Columbia County for Evans, Martinez, and Grovetown, and so on.
Not every inherited house goes through probate. If the home was owned jointly with a right of survivorship (common with married couples), it usually passes to the surviving owner automatically. If it was held in a living trust, the trustee can act without the court. But a house titled in one person’s name alone almost always has to go through probate before it can be sold, whether or not there was a will.
Here is the part that catches families off guard: until the court appoints a personal representative and issues what are called Letters (Letters Testamentary if there’s a will, Letters of Administration if there isn’t), nobody has the legal power to sell the house. Not the oldest child, not the person whose name is on the mailbox, not the relative who has been paying the light bill. You can get an offer, you can plan, but you can’t close.
What the process looks like
For most families, it goes roughly like this. Someone files a petition with the probate court to open the estate. If there’s a will, the named executor is usually appointed. If there isn’t, the court appoints an administrator, often a spouse or adult child, and the other heirs typically sign consents.
Once Letters are issued, the personal representative has to publish a notice to creditors in the county’s legal newspaper, and creditors get a window to file claims. The representative gathers the assets, pays valid debts, and then distributes what’s left according to the will or, if there’s no will, Georgia’s intestacy rules.
Nolo’s overview of Georgia probate puts the typical timeline at eight months to a year for a straightforward estate. That’s not a reason to panic; a house can often be sold during probate, not just after it. It’s a reason to start early.
Two Georgia-specific things worth knowing. First, if everyone agrees and there are no debts to sort out, a “no administration necessary” petition can sometimes skip full probate. Second, a surviving spouse or minor children can file for what’s called year’s support, which sets aside property for the family before other distributions and can pause a sale until the court rules on it.
Can the executor sell the house during probate?
Usually yes, but the authority has to come from somewhere. If the will gives the executor a power of sale, they can generally sell without asking the court for permission on each transaction. If there’s no will, or the will is silent, the administrator either petitions the court for expanded powers or files a petition for leave to sell the specific property. A title company will want to see one of these before they’ll close.
The personal representative also has a fiduciary duty to the other heirs. That means they have to be able to show the sale was reasonable. Selling to a cash buyer is fine, and it happens all the time, but selling far below what the house is worth to a friend of the family is how estates end up in litigation. When we buy an inherited property, we put our numbers in writing so the representative has a clear paper trail.
Taxes: better news than most people expect
Georgia has no state inheritance tax and no state estate tax. Federal estate tax only applies to very large estates. For most families the bigger question is capital gains when you sell, and here the rules are actually favorable: inherited property generally gets a “stepped-up” basis to its value on the date of death. If Mom bought the house for $40,000 in 1985 and it was worth $180,000 when she passed, your gain is measured from $180,000, not $40,000. Sell it soon after, and the taxable gain is often small or zero. Talk to a CPA about your specific numbers, but don’t let the fear of a tax bill keep you from acting.
When siblings don’t agree
This is the conversation nobody wants to have. One sibling wants to keep the house, another needs the money, a third lives in Texas and just wants it handled. If the estate can’t reach an agreement, Georgia law allows a partition action, where a court can order the property sold and the proceeds split. It is slow and expensive, and it tends to leave scars.
What we’ve seen work better: get one honest number on the table early. Once everyone knows what the house is worth as-is and what a sale would net after the mortgage and costs, the conversation usually gets easier. If one sibling wants to keep it, they can buy out the others at that figure. If nobody does, you sell and move on together.
Sell as-is or fix it up?
Inherited houses are often full of a lifetime of belongings, decades of deferred maintenance, and sometimes a tenant or a family member still living there. You have three real options.
You can clear it out, make repairs, and list it with an agent. This usually brings the highest sale price, but it takes months, costs money up front, and someone has to manage contractors from wherever they live.
You can list it as-is and hope for a buyer who’ll take on the work. Retail buyers using a mortgage often can’t, because lenders won’t finance a house with a bad roof or no HVAC.
Or you can sell directly to a local cash buyer. You leave what you don’t want, we handle the cleanout, there are no repairs, no showings, and we can close as soon as the probate court gives the green light, or wait until it does. It won’t be the top retail price, but for a lot of families it’s the fastest, lowest-stress way to turn a hard situation into a check that gets split fairly.
What to do this week
Find the will, if there is one, and the deed. Call the county probate court or an attorney to find out whether the estate has been opened. Keep paying the homeowner’s insurance and property taxes, because a lapse on a vacant house creates real problems. Don’t sign anything with anyone, including us, until Letters are issued and you understand who has authority. And if you’d like a no-obligation number to help your family talk it through, we’ll give you one.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell an inherited house in Georgia before probate is finished? Often yes, once the personal representative has been appointed and has the power of sale, either from the will or from a court order. The sale itself can close during probate.
How long does probate take in Georgia? For a simple estate, plan on eight months to a year. Contested wills, missing heirs, or year’s support petitions can extend it.
Do I have to pay taxes on a house I inherited in Georgia? There’s no Georgia inheritance tax. Because of the stepped-up basis, capital gains on a sale shortly after death are usually minimal. Confirm with a CPA.
Can one sibling force the sale of an inherited house? If the heirs can’t agree, a partition action can ask the court to order a sale. It’s a last resort; most families do better settling on a fair number first.
Will you buy a house that still has a tenant or family member living in it? Yes. We’ve handled both, and we’ll work with you on a respectful timeline for whoever is living there.
Longleaf Home Buyers is a local, in-person home-buying company serving Augusta, North Augusta, Evans, Martinez, Grovetown, Hephzibah, and Aiken. If you’ve inherited a house and want to understand your options, tell us about the property and we’ll give you a straightforward number with no pressure to take it.