Selling an Inherited House in Birmingham, AL: 2026 Guide

Every month, families around Birmingham inherit a house they did not plan for. Sometimes it is a parent’s home in Ensley or Center Point that has sat empty since the funeral. Sometimes it is a rental in Bessemer that three siblings now own together. The questions are always the same: Do we have to go through probate? Who can sign? What about the taxes? How long will this take? And, often, how do we sell it without spending a year and thousands of dollars first?

This guide walks through the whole process for Alabama, with the Jefferson County specifics, in plain language. It is written for heirs, not lawyers, and it is current as of November 2026. Where a step depends on your family’s situation, we say so. Where you need an attorney, we say that too.

Step 1: Figure out how the house was owned

Before anything else, pull the deed. In Jefferson County you can search it at the Probate Court’s records office (716 N. Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. in Birmingham, or 1801 3rd Ave. N. in Bessemer for the Bessemer Cutoff). How the house is titled decides which path you are on:

Joint owner with right of survivorship. If your parent owned the house with a spouse or someone else as joint tenants with survivorship, the house passed to the survivor automatically. No probate for the house. The survivor records a death certificate and can sell.
Held in a trust. The trustee can sell under the trust’s terms. No probate.
Owned by the deceased alone (or as tenants in common). This is the most common situation, and it means the house is part of the estate. Keep reading.

Step 2: Understand what probate actually is in Alabama

Probate is the court process that confirms who is in charge of the estate and who gets what. In Alabama it runs through the probate court in the county where the person lived. For most of Birmingham that is Jefferson County Probate Court; parts of the county west of the cutoff line file in Bessemer.

Two deadlines matter from day one. Under Alabama law a will must be filed for probate within five years of the death or it is not effective (Ala. Code 43-8-161). Once the court issues letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without one), creditors have six months to present claims (Ala. Code 43-2-350). That six-month window is the main reason a straightforward Alabama estate still takes seven to nine months to close.

A common question is whether a small estate can skip all this. Alabama’s summary distribution process was rewritten in 2025 and now covers estates up to about $47,000 of personal property. But it only applies when the deceased owned no real estate. If there is a house, summary distribution is off the table. We cover the details in Do You Have to Complete Probate Before Selling in Alabama?

Step 3: Who has the authority to sell

This is where most families get stuck, so here is the rule in one line: the person who signs the deed has to have legal authority to sign it, and a title company will not close without seeing that authority on paper.

If there is a will

The executor named in the will (Alabama calls this person the personal representative) can sell the house once the court has appointed them. If the will specifically gives the executor a power of sale, no separate court order is needed. If it does not, Alabama law requires the personal representative to get the court’s approval before selling real estate (Ala. Code 43-2-844). Most wills drafted by an attorney include the power of sale; many handwritten or form wills do not.

If there is no will

When someone dies without a will, Alabama’s intestacy rules decide who inherits, and title to the house passes to those heirs at the moment of death, subject to the estate’s debts. In theory, if every heir signs the deed, the house can be sold. In practice, title companies and buyers’ lenders usually want to see an estate opened and the creditor period run, because Alabama has no “affidavit of heirship” that clears title the way some states do. The workable paths are:

Open an administration, have one heir appointed administrator, and sell with the court’s approval or after the creditor period, or
Have every heir sign the deed, which works best when the death was years ago, the debts are long settled, and the buyer is paying cash (a cash buyer does not have a lender demanding title insurance on a conventional timeline).

If several relatives own the house together and some cannot be found or will not cooperate, you are dealing with what Alabama calls heirs’ property. Any co-owner can file for a partition, and since 2015 the Alabama Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act gives the other owners a right to buy that share out before the court orders a sale. Our post Grandma’s House Has Six Names on It explains how that works and how to protect the house.

Inherited a house in the Birmingham area?

We buy inherited and probate houses as-is, work with executors and multiple heirs, and can close in as little as 7 days or wait until the court signs off. No repairs, no cleanout, no commissions.

Get My Cash Offer or call (205) 502-2161. Learn more about our cash home buyers in Birmingham.

Step 4: Protect the house while the estate is open

An inherited house in Birmingham usually sits empty for months, and 2026 made that more expensive and more dangerous than it used to be:

Birmingham’s vacant property registry took effect October 1, 2026. Houses that sit empty must be registered with the city and carry a fee. See our breakdown of the registry.
Title fraud. Alabama’s Property Protection Act, also effective October 1, was passed because vacant and inherited houses are the easiest targets for forged deeds. Set up a fraud alert on the deed with the probate court and watch the mail. Details in Alabama’s New Title Fraud Law.
Squatters. Alabama’s squatter-removal law is faster than it used to be, but prevention is cheaper than removal. Change the locks, keep the yard cut, and have a neighbor check in. See our post on the squatter law.
Insurance. Most homeowner policies stop covering a house after it has been vacant for 30 to 60 days. Call the carrier, tell them the owner died, and ask for a vacancy endorsement or a vacant-dwelling policy.
Utilities. Keep the power on for the HVAC and the water off, or at least the water heater off, especially through winter.

Step 5: Know the tax picture (it is better than most heirs expect)

No Alabama inheritance or estate tax. Alabama has not collected an estate tax on deaths after 2004, and it has no inheritance tax.
Federal estate tax only touches estates above $15 million in 2026. For almost every Birmingham family it does not apply.
Stepped-up basis. Under federal law (IRC 1014) your cost basis in the house becomes its fair market value on the date of death. If Mom bought the house for $40,000 in 1985 and it was worth $180,000 when she passed, your basis is $180,000. Sell it for $180,000 and there is no capital gain. This is the single most important tax fact for heirs, and it is why selling soon after death rarely creates a tax bill.
Property taxes go up if nobody lives there. Alabama’s owner-occupied Class III rate (10% assessment) and the homestead exemption only apply to a house the owner lives in. Once the house is held by heirs who live elsewhere, Jefferson County will assess it as Class II (20%), which roughly doubles the bill. We explain the math in Why Alabama Landlords Pay Double. An heir who moves in needs to claim the homestead exemption with the county by December 31.
Back taxes. If the deceased was behind, the tax lien does not go away. Jefferson County’s redemption clock is covered in our tax lien post. The lien is paid at closing when the house sells.

Step 6: Decide how to sell

Heirs usually have three options, and the right one depends on the house’s condition, how many people have to agree, and how much time and money the family can put in.

List it with an agent

Best when the house is in good shape, the estate is closed or the executor has clear authority, and the family can wait. Expect to spend on repairs and cleanout first, pay a commission of roughly 5 to 6 percent, and allow 60 to 120 days from listing to closing in the current Birmingham market, where inventory is up and days on market are climbing. Read the hidden costs of listing before you decide.

Sell as-is for cash

Best when the house needs work, it is full of a lifetime of belongings, the heirs live out of town, or the family simply wants it done. A local cash buyer makes an offer within a day or two, buys the house in its current condition (furniture, boxes and all), pays no commission, and closes on the estate’s timeline, including waiting for the court order if one is needed. The trade-off is price: a cash offer is below what a fully renovated house would list for, because the buyer is taking on the repairs, the cleanout and the risk. For many families the math still works once repair bids, holding costs and commissions are subtracted from the retail number. See Sell an Inherited House Fast in Birmingham for a worked example.

Keep it or rent it

Sometimes right, but go in with open eyes: the property tax doubles, the insurance changes, the vacant registry applies if it sits, and every co-owner has to agree on every decision. Many families who try this call us two years later.

A realistic timeline for a Jefferson County estate

Week 1 to 4: Death certificate, locate the will, pull the deed, secure the house, call the insurer.
Month 1 to 2: File the will or petition for administration in probate court. Letters issued, usually within a few weeks of filing if nobody contests.
Month 2 to 8: Six-month creditor period runs. The house can be marketed and put under contract during this time; a cash buyer will typically wait to close until the court approves the sale or the period ends.
Month 7 to 9: Sale closes, debts and expenses paid, remaining proceeds distributed to heirs, estate closed.

A house that passed by survivorship or through a trust skips almost all of this and can close in a couple of weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Can we sell the house before probate is finished?

You can sign a contract, and a cash buyer can often close as soon as the personal representative has authority (the will’s power of sale or a court order). Without a will, most buyers wait for the creditor period to end or for a court order.

One sibling wants to sell and two do not. What happens?

Nobody can be forced to sell their own share, but any co-owner can ask the court to partition the property, which usually ends in a sale. Alabama’s heirs’ property law gives the other owners the first right to buy that share. It is usually faster and cheaper to agree on a buyout or a sale before anyone files.

The house has a mortgage. Do we have to pay it off?

The loan stays on the house. Federal law lets heirs take over the payments without the lender calling the loan due, but if nobody pays, the lender can foreclose. If the house sells, the mortgage is paid from the proceeds at closing.

Do we need a lawyer?

For a will with a power of sale and heirs who agree, many families handle the filing with the court’s help. For an estate with no will, more than two or three heirs, a missing heir, debts, or a disagreement, a probate attorney is money well spent. Jefferson County Probate Court can be reached at (205) 325-5203.

What does Birmingham Homebuyers do differently with inherited houses?

We have bought hundreds of houses across the Birmingham area since 2016, and a large share of them came from estates. We make a cash offer within 24 hours, buy the house as-is with everything left in it, pay no commissions, and work with your attorney and the probate court’s schedule. If the estate is not ready to close for six months, the offer waits. You can request a no-obligation cash offer, read reviews from Birmingham sellers, or learn how we buy houses fast in Birmingham.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Alabama law and the dollar figures above change; confirm the current rules with the probate court or an attorney before relying on them.

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