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Picture two siblings who just inherited their parents’ Tudor near Continental Avenue in Forest Hills. One wants the house listed by spring. The other has heard horror stories about estates stuck in court for a year before a single showing can happen. As I explain on my firm’s page on selling estate real estate, whether either sibling is right depends entirely on paperwork most families never think to check until it’s too late.
Start With the Will, Not the House
Before anyone in Forest Hills, Rego Park, or Kew Gardens calls a broker, I tell clients to pull the will and look for one specific phrase: “power of sale.” If the executor was granted that authority in writing, the sale can proceed the moment letters testamentary are issued, the document that formally establishes the executor’s authority to act. No hearing, no waiting on a Surrogate’s Court calendar. I have closed sales on Forest Hills co-ops and single-family homes within weeks of an executor receiving those letters, purely because the will did the work in advance.
No Power of Sale? Expect a Detour
Many wills are silent on this point, and intestate estates, where someone dies without a will, always are. In either case, the administrator or executor typically needs to petition Surrogate’s Court, the branch of New York’s court system that oversees estate matters, for a decree authorizing the sale. The judge wants evidence the price reflects fair market value and that every distributee, each relative with a legal right to inherit, was properly notified. Families in Kew Gardens and Forest Hills Gardens who skip this step, or rush it, are the ones I see run into closing delays six months later.
The Fastest Route: Everyone Signs
There is a shortcut worth knowing before you assume court involvement means months of delay. When every distributee is an adult and agrees to sign a waiver and consent, Surrogate’s Court will frequently approve the sale on paper, without a hearing. That is why I advise Forest Hills families early in probate to have this conversation with relatives directly, rather than letting silence or assumptions stretch the timeline unnecessarily.
Whichever path applies to your family’s home, the underlying question is the same: does the executor already have documented authority, or does that authority still need to be secured? Answering it correctly before signing a listing agreement is what keeps a Forest Hills closing on schedule instead of stalled at the courthouse.
Contributed by Dan Rose, a local business writer specializing in Estate Law services in New York City.
If your loved one left behind real estate in Forest Hills that needs to be sold, contact Roman Aminov today for a free phone consultation.
Roman Aminov Estate Law firm of Queens
147-17 Union Tpke, Kew Gardens Hills, NY 11367, United States
P59P+93 Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, NY, USA
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