Selling an Inherited House in the Hudson Valley, NY — Complete Guide

Inherited a House in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam? Start Here

Most of the people who call us about an inherited house are not real estate people. They are a daughter who moved out of state years ago, a son who was just named executor of his mother's estate, or three siblings trying to decide what happens to the split-level in New City they grew up in. The house matters to them, and so does getting the paperwork right.

This page lays out how an inherited home actually gets sold in the Lower Hudson Valley: which court you deal with, what papers give you the right to sign a deed, how New York's estate tax works (it does exist, and it surprises people), and what your choices are once you have authority to sell. It is general information, not legal advice. An estate attorney who practices in your county's Surrogate's Court is worth the call.

Which Surrogate's Court Handles the Estate

Probate in New York is handled by the Surrogate's Court of the county where the person was living when they died. The location of the house does not decide it; the decedent's residence does. If your father lived in Yorktown Heights but also owned a cottage on Lake Carmel, the estate is opened in Westchester and the Putnam house is administered as part of it.

• Westchester County Surrogate's Court: 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 19th floor, White Plains (the county courthouse).
• Rockland County Surrogate's Court: Rockland County Courthouse, 1 South Main Street, New City.
• Putnam County Surrogate's Court: the Historic Courthouse at 44 Gleneida Avenue, Carmel.

If the decedent lived out of state but owned a house here, the estate is opened where they lived, and a New York proceeding called ancillary administration is usually filed in the county where the house sits. Your attorney will know whether that applies.

Houses That Pass Without Probate

Before anyone files a petition, look at the most recent deed. How the title was held often decides whether probate is needed for the house at all.

• Spouses who owned together: married couples in New York usually hold title as tenants by the entirety, and the survivor owns the house automatically. The same goes for any joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
• Transfer on death deed: New York only started allowing these on July 19, 2024 (Real Property Law §424). If your parent signed and recorded one, the named beneficiary takes the house directly. Note that the property can still be reached for estate debts for a period after the death, so the title company will ask questions.
• House held in a trust: the successor trustee sells under the trust document, with no court involvement for that asset.
• Life estate deed: common with Medicaid planning in older Hudson Valley families. The remainder owners named on the deed own the house when the life tenant dies.
• Sole name, or tenants in common: the deceased owner's share goes through the estate, and the court has to appoint someone before a sale.

One trap: New York's simplified small estate process (voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13) covers personal property up to $50,000. It generally does not reach real estate, so a modest estate that includes a house still needs full Letters to sell it.

From Petition to Letters: What the Timeline Looks Like

1. Gather the originals. The original signed will (not a copy), a certified death certificate, and a list of the closest relatives with addresses. The court needs to know every person who would inherit if there were no will.
2. File the petition. Probate if there is a will, administration if there is not. Relatives either sign waivers and consents or are served with citations giving them a chance to object.
3. Letters issue. When the court is satisfied, it issues Letters Testamentary to the executor or Letters of Administration to the administrator. Uncontested files with cooperative families tend to move fastest; missing heirs or a challenged will can take much longer. Ask the clerk or your lawyer about current processing times rather than relying on anyone's rule of thumb.
4. Check the power to sell. Most New York wills give the executor a power of sale, which lets them sell the house without asking the court again. Administrators are in a different spot: Letters of Administration are often restricted, and selling real estate may require a separate court order under SCPA Article 19. Read the Letters themselves before signing any contract.
5. Sign the contract and close. The executor or administrator signs, the title company confirms the Letters are current, and the closing pays off any mortgage, unpaid taxes and estate bills before the net proceeds go into the estate account for distribution.

Creditors are part of the picture too. Under the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, a fiduciary who waits seven months from the date Letters issue before paying out to heirs has protection against creditor claims they did not know about. Many families sell the house during that window and simply hold the money in the estate account until the attorney says it is safe to distribute.

Taxes: New York Does Have an Estate Tax

A lot of online material gets this wrong. New York has no inheritance tax, meaning heirs do not pay the state anything simply for receiving property. But New York does have an estate tax, paid by the estate itself before distribution.

• For deaths in 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 (it was $7,160,000 for 2025). Estates below that owe no New York estate tax.
• New York has a "cliff": once the taxable estate passes 105% of the exclusion, the exclusion disappears and the whole estate is taxed. A Scarsdale or Rye house plus retirement accounts and life insurance can get closer to that line than families expect, so the executor's attorney or CPA should run the numbers.
• The federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per person for 2026, so very few Hudson Valley estates owe federal estate tax.

The tax most heirs actually deal with is income tax on the sale. Inherited property gets a "stepped-up" basis: the starting point for figuring gain is the home's fair market value on the date of death, not what your parents paid in 1972. Sell within a reasonable time for about what it was worth at death and there is usually little or no taxable gain. A date-of-death appraisal from a licensed appraiser is the document that proves that number later, so get one early.

On the closing side, New York State charges a real estate transfer tax of $2 for every $500 of the price, normally paid by the seller. When an estate sells to us, we pay the seller's closing costs, including that transfer tax.

When the Heirs Don't Agree

Disagreement is the most common reason inherited houses sit. One heir wants to sell now. One wants to rent it out. One wants to move in but cannot buy the others out. Meanwhile the school tax bill arrives, the oil tank needs filling so the pipes do not freeze, and the insurance company asks why nobody lives there.

If there is a will with a power of sale, the executor generally has the authority to sell even when a beneficiary objects, although a beneficiary can raise concerns with the court. If the heirs inherited the house directly as co-owners (for example, through a survivorship deed that named several children), every owner has to sign, and the fallback when someone refuses is a partition action in State Supreme Court under RPAPL Article 9. Partition is slow and expensive and tends to end with a court-ordered sale at a price nobody likes.

What usually helps is a firm number on the table. When every heir can see the same written cash offer, the same closing date, and the same estimate of what each share nets, the conversation tends to move from "what is it worth" to "do we want this or not." We are happy to put our offer in writing for the whole family and talk through it on a group call.

Living Somewhere Else? Handling the House From a Distance

A large share of the estates we see have an executor who lives out of state. That is manageable, but an empty house in the Hudson Valley needs attention every month:

• Winter: a house heated by oil needs deliveries, and a burst pipe in a vacant house can do serious damage before anyone notices. Winterizing (draining the plumbing and shutting off water) is cheap protection if no one will be there.
• Insurance: standard homeowners policies typically restrict coverage once a house has been unoccupied for a set period, often 60 days. Call the carrier, tell them the owner has died, and ask what coverage the estate needs.
• Taxes keep coming: in most towns the school tax and the town and county tax arrive as separate bills on separate schedules. The estate is responsible for both.
• Old-house surprises: buried heating oil tanks, lead paint in anything built before 1978, and a septic system or private well in northern Westchester and Putnam all come up in a normal buyer's inspection.

We close inherited sales remotely all the time. The executor can sign the closing documents in front of a notary wherever they live, and the attorneys and title company handle the rest. You do not need to fly in to clean out the house; leave what you do not want and we deal with it after closing.

Where Families Find Help

What We Do Differently With Estate Properties

Estate houses in this region come in every shape, from brick two-families in Yonkers to raised ranches in Rockland and lake cottages around Mahopac. Here is how we try to make the sale easier on the family:

• We can sign a contract before Letters issue and set the closing for after the court appoints the executor, so the family knows the house is handled while the paperwork catches up.
• We work with your estate attorney, not around them. They review our contract, and we send them everything they need for the file.
• We buy the house as it stands, contents included. Furniture, a basement full of tools, a garage nobody has opened since 1995: leave it.
• We put the numbers in writing so every beneficiary can see the price, the closing costs we cover and the estimated net to the estate.

Call Frank or Larry at (914) 610-7499. If a listing with an agent would clearly net the estate more, we will tell you so.

A Stepped-Up Basis Example

Say your mother bought her house in Ossining in 1981 and it was appraised at $620,000 as of her date of death. If the estate sells it eight months later for $610,000, the estate's gain is measured against the $620,000 date-of-death value, not her 1981 price, so there is no taxable gain at all and in fact a small loss on paper. If instead the family holds the house for five years and sells for $700,000, only the $80,000 above the stepped-up value is potentially taxable. These figures are illustrations, not a forecast of any price. Your tax preparer will use the actual appraisal.

Questions to Ask Before You Decide

• Do the Letters give the executor or administrator authority to sell without another court order?
• Is there a reverse mortgage or home equity line on the house? Reverse mortgage servicers set deadlines after the borrower dies, and heirs should contact them early.
• Did Medicaid pay for the decedent's long-term care? The estate may face a recovery claim that must be resolved before distribution.
• Are the school and property taxes current, and is STAR still on the bill? STAR stays tied to the owner's primary residence, so expect it to change.
• Is anyone living in the house, such as a relative or a tenant? Occupancy affects timing and may need its own legal steps.