When a family tells me the house is in a trust, I can hear the worry in their voice. They picture lawyers, a courtroom, and a year of waiting. If you are asking whether an inherited house in a trust can be sold, the answer I give on the phone is yes, and sometimes it is one of the easiest deals we do.
I’m Raul Bolufe. My company buys inherited houses and heir shares across Texas. I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. It is what we have seen on our deals.
Who can sell a house in a trust in Texas?
Think of a trust as a box with instructions taped to the lid. The house is in the box. The instructions say who runs the box, who it is for, and what happens to what is inside.
The person who runs the box is the trustee. On our trust deals, the trustee is who signed. Not the oldest son. Not whoever lives in the house. Not whoever the family always assumed was in charge. The person named on the paper.
The people the trust is for are the beneficiaries. On our deals, they did not sign the deed. The trustee did, and the money went where the trust said.
What is my rule on a house in a trust?
Every time somebody tells me there is a house in a trust, I say the same three things.
- Get the trust document. Not a summary, not what your aunt remembers. The actual document.
- Find the trustee. Who is named? Are they alive? Is there a backup named if they are not?
- Read the rules. What does it say about selling? Who gets the money, and how?
I say the same thing about probate papers and recorded wills. I want the paper, because the paper decides. Families remember things differently. The document does not.
One thing surprises people. A trust usually is not sitting at the county clerk’s office the way a deed is. The family has it, or the attorney who wrote it does. So the first job with a house in a trust is finding the trust.
Why can a trust make the sale faster?
When the paperwork exists, a trust can skip the slowest parts of selling an inherited house.
On a normal inherited house where nobody went to probate, my team builds the family tree, finds every heir, finds witnesses, has an affidavit of heirship drafted, and gets a notary to every heir. Out on Shraderville Road in Shepherd, that meant nine heirs in four states. Great family. Still nine signatures.
When you have a house in a trust and a trustee who answers the phone, most of that goes away. One person signs.
Porter: half a house, one trustee
We pulled title on a house in Porter, in Montgomery County, in January. Half of it was owned by a special needs trust. One of the owners had put his half into it years earlier. His name was not on the deed anymore. The trust’s was.
So we did what I always do. We got the trust paperwork and found the trustee. He was easy to reach and ready to deal. The beneficiary, the person the trust exists to take care of, lived up in Michigan.
The title team we work with looked at it and said what I was thinking. No affidavit of heirship. No witnesses. Nobody had to prove who inherited, because that half never passed to anybody by death. The trustee signs a trustee’s deed, and that is the deal.
- The trustee signed the trustee’s deed.
- That same afternoon, our runner drove it to the Montgomery County clerk, and it was recorded before the office closed.
- The beneficiary wanted a paper check, not an app. Kristy on my team wrote it, and it went in the mail the same day.
Porter went fast. I have waited longer for a cable guy.
We paid the way the trustee and the trust directed. And the trustee stayed helpful after. When the appraisal district turned out to have a lot line mixed up, he started working with us on a correction deed. That is what a good trustee looks like.
What if only half the house is in the trust?
Porter is the answer. Half that house in a trust, the other half owned by another person. Each half had its own paperwork and its own signer. We bought the trust’s half from the trustee, and the other half was a separate conversation.
We see the same thing with wills. In Missouri City, an uncle owned half a house that came to him through his sister’s will, and that will had gone through probate. His half had clean paperwork, so he sold it to us at his kitchen table with a mobile notary.
So if only part of a house in a trust is actually in the trust, do not wait on the other part. Each piece is its own deal. Here is how to sell your share of an inherited house in Texas.
What if the trustee died?
This is the question I get most, because a lot of family trusts name Mom or Dad as the trustee, and now Mom and Dad are gone.
The first thing we look for is a backup. Most trust documents families show us name one, sometimes two in a row. People call that person the successor trustee. That is who we talk to.
On a house in a trust, title companies have asked us for proof of that chain. The death certificate of the trustee who died. The pages that name the backup. Often a short signed summary of the trust, which people call a certificate of trust. The successor signs, and the deal moves.
Here is where families trip. Mom told everybody the oldest would handle it. The paper says the youngest. The paper wins. In Richmond, on Boss Gaston Road, one heir was sure he owned the whole house because of how the deed read. He owned a fraction. Paper beats memory every time.
What if there is no successor trustee?
This is the slow one.
Sometimes the trust names nobody after the trustee who died. Sometimes the backup died too, or wants nothing to do with it. Sometimes nobody can find the trust at all.
That is where an attorney earns their fee. A house in a trust with nobody to sign for it needs somebody put in charge, and I will not guess at that.
It does not mean the house is lost. If the trust truly cannot be found, a title company may treat it like a normal inherited house, and the family tree matters again. Here is what that looks like when someone died without a will in Texas.
Revocable vs irrevocable, what changes?
Here are the two words the way families explain them to me. A revocable trust is one the person who made it could change while alive. People call it a living trust. An irrevocable trust was set up so it could not easily be changed. The Porter trust was a special needs trust, set up to take care of one person.
For us as a buyer, the label mattered less than two questions. Who is the trustee right now? And does the paper let that trustee sell? If both answers are clear, we can usually buy a house in a trust. If either one is fuzzy, we get it cleared up before anybody signs. What your kind of trust allows is a question for the attorney who drafted it.
Does a trust need an affidavit of heirship?
Usually not, on our deals, when the house was really in the trust.
An affidavit of heirship is the sworn family tree that shows who inherited from someone who died. On Porter, there was nothing to inherit. The trust still owned its half before and after anybody died. So no affidavit, no witnesses, no family tree.
But here is the catch. A family can believe the house was in a trust while the county records still show Mom’s name. Maybe she signed the trust and never signed the deed that moved the house into it. Then the house in a trust is really a house in Mom’s name, and title wants the family tree after all.
We have bought plenty of those. In Willis, a grandmother’s mobile home went to her two grandsons because their dad had died before her. The first affidavit came back because title wanted more on her marriages, and a caretaker who still had the family papers helped fix it. If that is your situation, read my guide on what an affidavit of heirship is in Texas.
What about a pour over will?
A lot of people who set up a trust also sign a short will that says, in plain words, anything I forgot to put in the trust goes into the trust when I die. People call that a pour over will.
Families hand us that will and think it settles everything. On its own, it usually does not.
- The pour over will tells you the trust exists and what it is called. That is a great map.
- It does not make anybody the trustee. The person named to handle the will is not automatically the person who runs the trust.
- If the house was already in the trust, the will is not the paper that matters. The trust is.
- If the house never made it into the trust, that will may have to go through probate before the house gets there.
That last one is where a fast deal turns slow. When probate was already done, it was easy. In Woodbranch, one heir had finished probate and everything was in his name. We made a cash offer and closed through a title company. For that road, read about the Texas probate process from the heir’s side.
One more thing. Some wills and trusts talk about a survivor’s trust. That can mean the trust split in two when the first parent died, with half the house in each piece. When we see those words, we check how the surviving parent signed any later deeds before we assume anything.
What if a beneficiary wants to sell their share?
This is where trusts work differently from a normal inherited house.
When there is no trust, an heir owns a piece and can sell it. On Walnut Ave in Odessa, one of three sisters sold us her third from a hospital bed in Fort Worth. Her sisters had not spoken to her in ten years. They did not have to agree.
With a house in a trust, the beneficiary usually does not own a piece of the house directly. The trust does. So a beneficiary who wants out talks to the trustee. The trustee is the one who can sell.
If the trustee will not move, that is a question for an attorney. What I can do is talk to the trustee with you and put a real cash number in front of them.
Trust house vs regular inherited house on our deals
This is not a legal chart. It is what we have seen on our own deals. Your family can be different.
| Situation | Who signed or what title wanted on our deals |
|---|---|
| House or half a house really is in the trust, trustee alive | The trustee signed a trustee’s deed. No affidavit, no witnesses. Porter. |
| Trustee died, a backup is named | The backup named in the paper, with proof of the death and the pages that name them. What we ask for first. |
| No backup, or nobody can find the trust | The slow one. Somebody has to be put in charge, or title may treat it like a normal inherited house. |
| Family says trust, county records still show Mom | Then it is an inherited house. Family tree and an affidavit, like the grandsons in Willis. |
| Only a pour over will, house never moved in | The will is a map, not a signature. Probate may come first. When it was already done, one heir signed, like Woodbranch. |
| No trust, many heirs | Every heir signs their own piece. Nine heirs in four states on Shraderville Road. |
Who pays the taxes and liens on a house in a trust?
Whatever is sitting on the house, back taxes, a lien, a code violation, once you sell to us, that becomes our problem. We call, we negotiate, we pay. The Porter house had back taxes on it. The beneficiary in Michigan never had to think about it.
Here is how it splits. Property taxes and IRS liens get paid. Those do not negotiate. Judgment liens, HOA liens, demolition orders, and child support liens are different. Those we negotiate.
In Willis, a son had a $25,000 child support lien in his name, and we got it down to about $4,000. In West Columbia, we settled a $146,000 lien for under 5% and got a demolition order lifted.
Liens are a normal Tuesday for my team. They should not be yours.
How fast do we pay on a house in a trust?
The same as any deal. When we buy an interest, like the Porter trust half, we pay in 3 to 5 days. When we buy 100% of the property, it is usually 21 to 30 days. What slows a house in a trust down is never the money. It is the paper. For the full picture, read how long it takes to sell an inherited house in Texas.
What this means for you
- An inherited house in a trust can be sold. On our deals, the trustee signed.
- Get the trust document before anything else. It answers who signs, who gets paid, and how.
- If the trustee died, look for the backup named in the paper. The paper decides, not the family.
- Check the county records. If the house never got moved into the trust, it is an inherited house, and the family tree matters.
- A pour over will is a map, not a signature.
- Back taxes, liens, and violations become ours once you sell to us. You do not write a check to the county.
The short version
- A trust has a trustee. The trustee is the person named in the document, and that is who signs.
- My rule: get the document, find the trustee, read the rules.
- Porter: half a house in a special needs trust. Trustee’s deed signed and recorded the same day. The beneficiary was paid by check.
- A house in a trust slows down only when the paper is missing, unclear, out of date, or the house never actually made it into the trust.
- We pay in 3 to 5 days when we buy an interest, usually 21 to 30 days when we buy 100% of the property.
Frequently asked questions
Can the beneficiary sign to sell a house in a trust?
On our deals, no. The trustee signed a house in a trust over to us. The beneficiaries are who the money is for.
The trustee died. Is the house stuck?
Not if the trust names a backup. That person takes over and signs. If nobody is named, or the trust cannot be found, it gets slower, and that part is a question for an attorney.
Do we need probate to sell a house in a trust?
On our deals, not when the house was really in the trust. Probate came into it when the house never got moved into the trust and only a will was left.
Mom said the house was in a trust, but the county still shows her name. Now what?
Then on paper it is an inherited house. We pull the title, build the family tree, and tell you who has to sign. Most of those still sell.
If you have a house in a trust and nobody is sure what to do with it, call or text me at 936-380-6384, or fill out the form. Tell me the address, who set up the trust, and who you think the trustee is. If you have the document, have it handy.
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About the author
Raul Bolufe has bought and sold real estate since 2012, closed more than 800 deals, and paid more than 100 heirs for their share of inherited property across Texas and Florida. He hosts the Flipping Miami Podcast. More at raulbolufe.com.
Read next
- How to sell your share of an inherited house in Texas, even if the other heirs won’t
- How to Sell an Inherited House Without Probate in Texas
- Texas Heir Property: What It Is and How to Sell Your Piece of It