Yes! You can sell a house that’s under a Living Trust.
Below is a short story of how I sold my home that was under a revocable living trust.
I am the owner of a revocable living trust. I set it up a few years ago, and when I did, I transferred my home’s title into the trust by using a quitclaim deed. I actually didn’t do it on my own. I had a law firm create the trust. They also created the new deed, along with the county’s filing documents, and told me where to file them to get them properly recorded. I then filed and recorded the new deed at the recorder’s office of the county where the house is located. When I did a title search, the house showed up with the owner correctly listed in the name of my trust. The trust also names me as the trustee, which gives me full control of my home just as I did before creating the trust.
I know the main purpose of the revocable living trust is to avoid the issues of going through probate court and to have my final wishes for the distribution of my assets documented in writing. Having been through the probate of a family member’s estate, I do not want my family to ever have to get a court’s permission to handle my estate or to deal with my house. When I die, my family will not be able to fight over who gets the assets and how much. I chose a successor trustee for my living trust, and that trustee has to follow my written directions when distributing my assets to my beneficiaries. My living trust also came with medical and financial powers of attorney. These grant my agent the authority to make decisions for my benefit if I ever become incapacitated while I’m still living.
Recently, I sold my house. Here is how I handled the sale of the house.
Remember, I am the trustee of the trust. I have the authority to control all of the trust’s assets, which includes my house. I contacted a real estate company to sell the house. In order to list the house for sale, they needed to do a title search. Since the search listed my trust as owner, they asked me to provide a copy of my trust to verify that I had authority under the trust to sell the home. Both documents checked out and the house went up for sale.
After the realtor completed an inspection of the home, he recommended a few things that needed to be done to raise the value of the house. I contracted with different companies to do the work needed to upgrade the house. Each contract was ordered in the name of my living trust and signed by me as the trustee. One contractor did ask me to provide a copy of the certification page of trust, which took little effort, and showed that I was in fact the trustee of my trust. Once the house got its facelift, I decided the amount for the asking price of the house.
In the process of listing the house and having it shown, I was the selling representative for the sale. I had the final say on the selling price. After a buyer was secured and everything was agreed upon, I attended the closing to sign the final documents as the trustee on the deed. I had even set up a special bank account in the name of the trust just to receive the payment. Every time my name was on a document it was “John Smith, trustee for the John Smith Family Living Trust”.
Shortly after the sale, and like many people do, I decided to use the proceeds to purchase another bigger and better beautiful home. I always wanted a two-story and that time had finally arrived. In this transaction, I again had to show my trust to verify I had the authority to enter into the purchase on the behalf of my trust. I negotiated the price, and it was me acting as a trustee, who purchased the new house. When the closing title company created the deed for the house, it had the name of the trust with me as trustee. It was recorded in the county recorder’s office, is now technically an asset of my trust, and is exempt from the probate process just like my previous home. I can now have my attorney amend my trust to distribute the new house in a different manner upon my death, or I can leave the trust as is, where the new house would be sold and divided up amongst my beneficiaries just like I intended for the previous home.
So, to answer the question again “can I sell a house that’s in my living trust”, the answer is YES I can.
As the trustee of my trust, I can buy and sell real estate just like I did before creating my living trust.
If you would like to watch a 45-minute video that gives an overview of how easy it can be to set up and manage a living trust, and finally get your family protected from unnecessary probate attorney fees and court costs, . You will also learn how you can actually obtain a living trust at the low cost of only $599. That low price includes everything, even the attorney and notary fees are included in that price.
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This area of the website is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of the author, not of the National Association of Family Services, and have not been evaluated by the National Association of Family Services for accuracy, completeness, or changes in the law.
