Selling a Deceased Estate Privately: A Step-by-Step Guide for Executors

When someone close to you dies and the family home has to be sold, the property is often the biggest thing left to sort out. If you’re the executor, it can feel like a lot to carry on top of the grief: the paperwork and a house full of a lifetime of belongings.

Selling a deceased estate follows the same basic path as any other home sale, with a few extra steps at the start. Once you know what those steps are and who does what, it’s more manageable than it feels right now, and some executors choose to sell privately so more of the estate goes to the people it was left to.

This guide walks you through it: who has the right to sell, when you need probate, the tax rules, and how to run the sale yourself.

The short version: how to sell a deceased estate

Find the will and confirm who the executor is. If there’s no will, someone (usually the next of kin) applies to administer the estate.
Check how the property was owned. Joint tenants, tenants in common or sole owner changes everything that follows.
Engage a solicitor or conveyancer early. They’ll guide the grant of probate (or letters of administration) and later the sale.
Apply for the grant, usually from your state or territory’s Supreme Court, if the property needs one.
Secure and insure the home, and keep the utilities and council rates paid.
Get a valuation and agree a plan with the beneficiaries.
Prepare the home and your state’s disclosure documents, then list it.
Sign the contract as executor and settle once you have authority to transfer the title.
Work out any tax, including capital gains tax and the clearance certificate, then distribute the proceeds under the will.

Who has the right to sell?

Usually it’s the executor named in the will. Once the court confirms their appointment with a grant of probate, they can deal with the estate’s property, including selling the house.

If there’s no valid will, or no executor who can act, the court can appoint an administrator instead with letters of administration. The NSW Government’s guide for executors sets out the difference simply, and the other states work the same way.

Your job as executor is to look after the estate on behalf of the people who inherit it. That shapes the sale: you’re aiming for a fair market price, sold in a sensible timeframe, with records you could happily show any beneficiary who asks.

How was the property owned? Start here

This one question decides whether you need probate for the house at all.

How it was owned	What happens on death	Do you need a grant to sell?
Sole owner	The property becomes part of the estate	Generally yes
Tenants in common (a share each)	The deceased’s share passes under their will (or the intestacy rules if there isn’t one)	Generally yes, for that share
Joint tenants	The surviving owner takes the whole property automatically	No. The survivor updates the title and can then sell as owner

The rules on this come straight from the courts and land titles offices. The Supreme Court of NSW says a grant will be required to deal with real estate held in the deceased’s sole name or as a tenant in common, while jointly owned property passes to the survivor. The Supreme Court of Victoria puts it even more plainly: for real estate owned solely or as a tenant in common, “a grant is always required”.

If you’re the surviving joint owner

If you owned the home with your partner as joint tenants, the house is already yours. You just need to record the death on the title before you sell. Each state’s land titles office has its own form:

State	Who issues probate	Survivor’s form to record a joint owner’s death
NSW	Supreme Court of NSW	Notice of death (NSW Land Registry Services)
VIC	Supreme Court of Victoria	Application by surviving proprietor (Land Use Victoria)
QLD	Supreme Court of Queensland	Form 4, Request to record death (Titles Queensland)
WA	Supreme Court of WA	Survivorship application (Landgate)
SA	Supreme Court of SA (Probate Registry)	Application to register death by survivor (Land Services SA)
TAS	Supreme Court of Tasmania	Application by survivorship (Land Titles Office)
ACT	ACT Supreme Court	Notice of death by surviving proprietor (Access Canberra)
NT	NT Supreme Court	Application to note death by surviving proprietor (Land Titles Office)

You’ll usually need the death certificate. Your conveyancer can lodge it for you as part of the sale, so it’s not something to stress about on your own.

Do you need probate before you can sell?

For a house in the deceased’s sole name, or a share held as tenants in common, the short answer is yes before the sale can be completed. The land titles office won’t transfer the property to a buyer until the executor can show their authority, and that’s the grant. South Australia’s Probate Registry, for example, notes that Land Services SA won’t process a transfer of the deceased’s sole interest without one.

Queensland is the main exception. The Queensland Courts list “real estate needs to be sold” as a situation where probate may not be needed, because Titles Queensland offers a process that often avoids it. Whether it fits your estate depends on the details, so ask your solicitor.

So can you put the house on the market before the grant comes through? This is where you need your solicitor’s advice for your situation, not a general rule. What you can safely do in the meantime is everything that comes before signing: secure the home, clear it, get a valuation, choose your conveyancer and have the contract and disclosure documents prepared. That way you’re ready to move the moment you have authority to sell.

How long the grant takes varies. Victoria’s Supreme Court currently says applications are taking longer than its published 5 to 10 working days, and South Australia’s registry notes that applications needing extra evidence about the will can take considerable time. Missing or unclear documents are the usual cause of delay, which is one more reason to get a solicitor involved early.

Looking after the home while you wait

An empty house needs a bit of care, and these jobs are easy to overlook in the first few weeks:

Call the home insurer. Tell them the owner has died and the house may sit empty. Vacancy can change what the policy covers, so check before anything goes wrong.
Keep the basics running. Power, water and council rates still need paying from the estate. A bit of power for lights and the fridge also helps when you start showing buyers through.
Secure it. Change or collect spare keys, redirect the mail and ask a neighbour to keep an eye out.
Check the land tax position. Some states give the estate time before land tax applies to the deceased’s home. In Queensland, for example, a home exemption can continue for up to a year after the date of death if the estate applies and conditions are met. Check with your state’s revenue office.

Clearing out the contents is often the hardest job emotionally. Give the family time to take what matters to them before the house is cleared for sale, and keep a simple list of what went where. It saves misunderstandings later.

Getting the price right (and keeping everyone on side)

When beneficiaries disagree, it’s usually about the price rather than the decision to sell. So the best thing you can do as executor is base it on evidence.

Start with a free property value report to see recent sales nearby, and consider a formal valuation from a registered valuer for the file. A written valuation helps if a family member later asks whether the house sold for what it was worth, and your accountant may want one for capital gains tax anyway.

Then talk to the beneficiaries before you list. Agree the asking price range, how long you’ll give the campaign, and what happens if one of them would like to buy the house. A family member buying it is not unusual, and perfectly possible, but it should still be at market value and go through the solicitor so everyone is treated fairly.

Why sell an estate home privately?

Every dollar of commission comes out of what the beneficiaries receive. On a $700,000 sale, a 2.5% commission plus GST is more than $19,000. You can check what agents charge where the property is in our guide to real estate agent commission by state.

Selling privately means you list the home on the major portals, show buyers through and negotiate yourself, while a solicitor or conveyancer handles the legal side. For an estate there are some extra pluses:

You set the pace. Executors often juggle work, distance and family. You choose the inspection times.
You know the house. Often better than any agent, right down to the renovations and the quirks.
Clear records. Every enquiry and offer is in writing, which makes reporting back to the beneficiaries simple.

With PropertyNow, you pay one flat fee instead of commission, your listing runs until you sell, and our team, including licensed agents in every state, is on hand 7 days a week (9am to 5:30pm AEST) to help with the listing, buyer enquiries and offers. If you live interstate from the property, you can manage enquiries and inspection bookings online.

Before a listing goes live you’ll be asked to show you own the property, and a recent council rates notice usually does it. As an executor, have the paperwork that gives you authority to sell, such as the grant of probate or letters of administration, and check with the estate’s solicitor what your state requires.

The legal paperwork for the sale

When an executor sells to a buyer, plan on the same disclosure documents as any other private sale, and have them ready before buyers start signing:

NSW: the contract of sale must be prepared before you can advertise the property at all. Our NSW private selling guide covers the steps.
VIC: the buyer must get a Section 32 vendor statement before they sign.
QLD: since 1 August 2025 the buyer must receive a seller disclosure statement before they sign.
SA: a Form 1 vendor’s statement is required, and buyers get a cooling-off period of 2 clear business days.
WA, TAS, ACT, NT: each has its own contract and disclosure requirements. Your conveyancer or settlement agent will prepare what your state needs.

In Queensland and the ACT, the conveyancing must be done by a solicitor. Elsewhere, a licensed conveyancer or a solicitor can act. For an estate, a solicitor who handles probate as well as property is often the easiest choice, because one person sees the whole picture. If you’re weighing that up, our article on whether you need a conveyancer to sell privately explains who does what.

Looking for a solicitor?

If you’d like a recommendation, LawLab is a national property law firm that can act in every state, including Queensland and the ACT, with a fully online process. You can start with LawLab here. If you sign up through our referral, we may receive a small referral fee, at no extra cost to you.

Signing the contract as executor

When you accept an offer, you sign the contract as the executor (or administrator) of the estate, not in your own name. If the will names more than one executor, expect all of them to be involved. In Western Australia, for example, Landgate requires all executors named in the grant to appear on the transfer. Your solicitor will set out who signs what in your state.

The deposit goes into the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s trust account, exactly as in any private sale. Never ask a buyer to pay it into the estate’s account or your own.

Tax: capital gains, the 2-year window and the clearance certificate

The tax side is where an executor can save the estate real money, or cost it. These are the main rules from the ATO. Get a registered tax agent to apply them to your estate.

The main residence exemption and the 2-year rule

An inherited home can be fully exempt from capital gains tax. Under the ATO’s rules on inherited property and CGT, you can generally get the full exemption if:

the deceased acquired the home before 20 September 1985, or it was their main residence just before they died and wasn’t being used to produce income, and
the sale is under a contract that settles within 2 years of the date of death.

The same exemption applies whether the executor sells on behalf of the estate or a beneficiary sells after inheriting it. Note the wording: it’s settlement, not signing, that has to happen inside the 2 years. If the timing slips because of things outside your control, the ATO can extend the 2-year period, and there’s an automatic safe harbour for delays of up to 18 months if certain conditions are met.

If the home doesn’t qualify in full (say it was rented out, or the sale settles late), a partial exemption may still apply.

Cost base

If CGT does apply, the starting point matters. For a home the deceased bought before 20 September 1985, or a home that was their main residence just before death and not producing income, the first element of the cost base is generally the market value on the day they died. That’s another reason a valuation near the date of death is worth having.

The 2027 CGT changes

From 1 July 2027 the 50% CGT discount is due to be replaced with cost base indexation for gains that accrue from that date. The first stage of the legislation has passed and further stages are to follow, but the main residence exemption isn’t changing, according to the ATO’s summary of the reforms. If any part of an estate sale won’t be exempt and the sale could fall after July 2027, raise it with your tax agent early.

The clearance certificate

Every Australian resident selling Australian property needs a clearance certificate from the ATO, or the buyer must withhold up to 15% of the price, whatever the price. For an estate sale, the executor applies on behalf of the deceased. It’s free, but the ATO asks for at least 28 days before settlement, so apply as soon as you decide to sell.

Will contests and timing

Sometimes a family member challenges the will by making a family provision claim. The time limits differ a lot between states: in NSW it’s 12 months from the date of death, while in Victoria and several other states the clock runs from the grant of probate, and the window can be as short as three months (Tasmania).

You can usually still sell the house during that period, unless a claim has actually been made, in which case follow your solicitor’s advice before dealing with the property. Distributing the money is a different matter, and executors are generally advised to hold off until the time for claims has passed. If you know someone is unhappy with the will, talk to your solicitor before you sign a contract.

The bottom line

Work out how the house was owned, get a solicitor or conveyancer on board early, apply for the grant if you need one, and use the waiting time to prepare the home and the paperwork. Base the price on evidence, keep the beneficiaries informed, and watch the 2-year CGT window.

Do those things and you can run the sale yourself with confidence, and keep the commission in the estate where it belongs.

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Frequently asked questions

Can an executor sell a house before probate is granted?

The sale can’t be completed until the executor has authority to transfer the title, which for a house in the deceased’s sole name (or a tenant in common share) usually means the grant of probate. In Queensland, Titles Queensland has a process that can sometimes avoid probate. You can prepare the home, the valuation and the contract while you wait. Ask your solicitor before signing anything.

Can you sell a deceased estate without a real estate agent?

Yes. The executor (or administrator) is the seller and signs the contract on behalf of the estate. You can list the home privately, show buyers through and negotiate yourself, while a solicitor or conveyancer handles the contract and settlement.

Do you pay capital gains tax when selling an inherited house?

Often not. Under ATO rules, an inherited home is generally fully exempt if the deceased bought it before 20 September 1985, or it was their main residence just before death and not producing income, and the sale settles within 2 years of the death. Otherwise a partial exemption may apply. Check your situation with a registered tax agent.

How long does an executor have to sell a property?

There isn’t one deadline for every estate, but two time frames tend to set the pace: the ATO’s 2-year window for the CGT exemption (settlement within 2 years of death), and the family provision claim period in your state, which affects when the money can be distributed.

What happens to a jointly owned house when one owner dies?

If the owners were joint tenants, the survivor automatically owns the whole property. No probate is needed for the house. The survivor records the death with the land titles office (for example, Form 4 in Queensland or a notice of death in NSW) and can then sell as the owner.

Do the beneficiaries have to agree to the sale?

The executor makes the decisions about administering the estate, guided by the will. In practice, it helps a lot to agree the price and timing with the beneficiaries before you list, and to keep them updated. If a beneficiary wants to buy the house, your solicitor can set that up at market value.

Do I still need a disclosure statement or Section 32 for a deceased estate?

Plan on it. The usual disclosure rules for your state apply when an executor sells to a buyer, so expect the NSW contract before marketing, the Victorian Section 32 and the Queensland seller disclosure statement. Your conveyancer or solicitor prepares them, and can confirm the position for your estate.