To transfer a house title to a child after a parent’s death, start by pulling the current deed and seeing how the parent held ownership. If they were the sole owner, the house has to go through probate before a court-authorized deed can move it into your name. If they set up a living trust, signed a transfer-on-death deed, or held the property in joint tenancy with you, the transfer skips court and can be done in weeks with a death certificate, a new deed, and a trip to the county recorder’s office.
Start With the Deed
The way your parent’s name appears on the existing deed controls everything that follows. If you don’t have a copy, the county recorder’s office where the property sits keeps these records, and many counties make them searchable online.
Four ownership arrangements are common, and each leads somewhere different:
- Sole ownership. Your parent was the only person on the title. The property must go through probate.
- Living trust. Your parent transferred the house into a trust during their lifetime. A successor trustee handles the transfer privately.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Ownership passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant at death.
- Tenancy by the entirety. A married-couple form of joint ownership available in roughly half of states. If your parent held the house this way with a surviving spouse, the spouse becomes sole owner automatically, and the house won’t reach you until that spouse’s death or a later transfer.
If the House Has to Go Through Probate
When a parent was the sole owner, probate is almost always required. Someone files the parent’s will with the probate court in the county where the parent lived. If there’s a valid will, the court confirms the executor named in it. If there’s no will, the court appoints an administrator, usually the closest relative who volunteers.
From there, the executor or administrator inventories the parent’s assets, has the property appraised, notifies creditors, pays outstanding debts and taxes, and keeps the house maintained and insured throughout. None of it is optional. Courts won’t approve a property transfer until they’re satisfied the estate’s obligations have been addressed.
Once the estate is settled, the court issues an order authorizing the transfer. The executor signs an executor’s deed (or the administrator signs an administrator’s deed), which formally moves the title from the estate to the child. That deed gets notarized and recorded with the county recorder’s office to complete the transfer.
Expect the process to run anywhere from nine months to well over a year for a straightforward estate. Contested wills, unclear titles, or significant debts stretch it further, and attorney fees, court costs, and appraisal charges add up along the way.
Simplified Probate for Smaller Estates
Most states offer a shortcut for estates that fall below a certain value threshold, sometimes called a small estate affidavit or summary administration. The maximum value that qualifies varies widely by state, from as little as $10,000 to as much as $275,000. Watch for a catch: many states limit the simplified process to personal property and exclude real estate entirely, meaning the house must go through regular probate no matter what it’s worth. Ask the probate court in the county where your parent lived whether their simplified procedure covers real property.
If Probate Can Be Avoided
If your parent planned ahead, the house may bypass probate entirely. Each of the three routes below has its own paperwork, but all of them avoid court supervision.
Living Trust
When a house is held in a living trust, the successor trustee named in the trust document takes over after your parent’s death. The trustee follows the trust’s instructions, prepares a trustee’s deed transferring the property to you, and records it with the county. No court approval is needed, and the whole process can be completed in a matter of weeks.
Transfer-on-Death Deed
A transfer-on-death deed (sometimes called a beneficiary deed) lets a property owner name someone who will automatically inherit the house at death. Roughly 30 states and the District of Columbia allow this type of deed. For it to work, your parent had to sign and record the deed with the county land records office before dying. If they did, you file a copy of the death certificate and an affidavit with the recorder’s office to claim the property.
If your parent lived in a state that doesn’t recognize transfer-on-death deeds, this option isn’t available after the fact. It had to be set up while they were alive.
Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship
When property is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, the surviving owner becomes the sole owner the moment the other owner dies. Nothing needs to be “transferred” in the legal sense, but you still have to update the public record. File an affidavit of survivorship along with a certified copy of the death certificate at the county recorder’s office. That removes the deceased parent’s name from the title and confirms your sole ownership.
Documents You’ll Need
The specific paperwork depends on the transfer method, but a few documents come up in almost every scenario:
- Certified death certificate. Every method requires this. Order several copies from the vital records office in the state where your parent died, because the mortgage servicer, insurance company, and recorder’s office may each want their own original.
- The existing deed. You need it to confirm how ownership was held and to pull the property’s legal description, which must appear verbatim on the new deed.
- Will or trust document. For probate, the will establishes who inherits. For a trust, the document gives the successor trustee authority to act.
- Letters testamentary or letters of administration. Issued by the probate court, these prove the executor or administrator has legal authority. Banks, title companies, and government offices all require them.
- New deed. An executor’s deed for probate transfers, a trustee’s deed for trust transfers, or an affidavit of survivorship for joint tenancy properties. The deed must include the property’s full legal description and correctly name both the grantor (the estate, trustee, or surviving tenant) and the grantee (you).
Get a date-of-death appraisal too, even though it isn’t required for recording. A professional appraisal establishes the home’s fair market value on the exact date your parent died, which sets your tax basis in the property. If you ever sell, that number determines your capital gain. Trying to reconstruct the value years later is a headache you can avoid for a few hundred dollars now.
Recording the New Deed
No matter which method applies, the final step is recording the new deed with the county recorder’s or county clerk’s office where the property is located. The deed has to be signed by the authorized person (executor, trustee, or surviving joint tenant), notarized, and submitted with any locally required forms. Many counties require a change-of-ownership statement or a transfer tax affidavit at the same time.
Recording fees vary by county but generally run between $10 and $100. Some jurisdictions also charge transfer taxes based on the property’s value, though many exempt transfers between parents and children or transfers that occur at death. Call the recorder’s office before you show up, because a deed that doesn’t meet local formatting requirements will be rejected.
Once the deed is accepted and stamped, it becomes part of the permanent public record, and the title transfer is complete.
What Happens to the Mortgage
If your parent still owed money on the house, the mortgage doesn’t vanish. The loan balance remains a lien against the property. But federal law protects you from the biggest fear people have here: that the lender will demand immediate full repayment.
The Garn-St. Germain Act prohibits mortgage lenders from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when property transfers to a relative after the borrower’s death, or when a spouse or child becomes an owner. It applies to residential properties with fewer than five units. You inherit the house subject to the existing mortgage, keep making the monthly payments, and don’t have to refinance unless you want to.
Getting the mortgage servicer to actually cooperate is sometimes the harder part. Federal regulations require servicers to treat a confirmed heir as a borrower for communication, account information, and loss mitigation. To get confirmed as a “successor in interest,” you’ll typically need to give the servicer a death certificate, proof of your identity, and evidence of your ownership interest, such as the recorded deed, letters testamentary, or trust documentation. Once confirmed, you have the right to receive account statements, request payoff information, and apply for loan modifications.
Taxes on the Inherited House
Inheriting a house is not a taxable event by itself. You won’t owe income tax just because you received the property. But there are consequences worth understanding before you decide whether to keep, rent, or sell.
Stepped-Up Basis
When you inherit property, your cost basis for capital gains purposes resets to the home’s fair market value on the date your parent died. If your parent bought the house for $80,000 forty years ago and it was worth $350,000 when they died, your basis is $350,000, not $80,000. Sell shortly after for $355,000 and you owe capital gains tax on only $5,000, not on the $275,000 of appreciation that built up during your parent’s lifetime. This is why estate planners often advise against parents transferring property to children before death through a gift deed, since a gift carries over the parent’s original low basis and an inheritance resets it.
Federal and State Estate or Inheritance Tax
The federal estate tax applies only when a deceased person’s total estate exceeds the basic exclusion amount, which is $15,000,000 for 2026. Most families will never owe it.
About a dozen states impose their own estate tax or inheritance tax, and several set thresholds far lower than the federal level. Some kick in at $1 million or $2 million, well within reach for families whose primary asset is a home in an expensive housing market. Children are typically taxed at the lowest rate or exempted entirely under inheritance tax schemes, but don’t assume without checking with the state’s tax authority.
If Your Parent Received Medicaid
This one catches families off guard. If your parent received Medicaid benefits for nursing home care, home health services, or other long-term care after age 55, federal law requires the state to seek reimbursement from the estate after death. The family home is often the largest asset, making it a primary target.
States cannot pursue estate recovery if the deceased parent is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a child of any age who is blind or disabled. States may place a lien on the home during the parent’s lifetime if the parent is permanently living in a nursing facility, but must remove the lien if the parent returns home. A sibling with an equity interest who has been living in the home may also be protected from a lien.
Federal law also requires every state to offer an undue hardship waiver. If selling the house to repay Medicaid would leave an heir homeless or without a means of income, the heir can apply for a partial or full waiver of the recovery claim. Criteria and process vary by state, and the bar can be high.
If your parent received long-term care benefits, get legal advice before recording any deed or distributing any estate assets.
Deadlines People Miss
Homeowner’s Insurance
Your parent’s homeowner’s insurance policy does not automatically transfer to you. Most insurers give you roughly 30 days after the policyholder’s death to contact them before they cancel. If that happens, the property sits uninsured, and you’ll need a brand-new policy, often at a higher rate. Call the insurance company as soon as possible after the death to either rewrite the existing policy in your name or start a new one. If the house will sit vacant during probate, you may need a vacant-home policy, which covers different risks than standard homeowner’s insurance.
Property Tax Reassessment
In many jurisdictions, a change in ownership triggers reassessment of the property’s value for tax purposes. If your parent owned the home for decades with a low assessed value, reassessment can significantly increase the annual property tax bill. Some states offer exemptions for parent-to-child transfers that prevent or limit reassessment, but they’re not universal, and they often require you to file a specific form within a deadline. Check with the county assessor’s office shortly after the death.
Utility Accounts
Transfer utility accounts, trash service, and any homeowner association memberships into your name or the estate’s name promptly. Utility companies can shut off service to an account held by a deceased person, and reconnection fees add unnecessary cost to an already expensive process.