What to Know When Selling a Parent's Home in Michigan

This is one of the most common calls we get — and one of the most varied. Selling a parent's home looks very different depending on whether your parent is still living, has recently passed, or is moving into care. The common threads are legal authority, family coordination, and a property that may need work before it goes on the market.

This is real estate guidance, not legal or tax advice. The specifics of your situation should be reviewed with a Michigan attorney and CPA.

Scenario 1: Your Parent Is Living but No Longer Managing the Sale Themselves

If your parent is in memory care, has cognitive decline, or simply can't manage the sale process, someone needs to have legal authority to act on their behalf. That typically means a durable power of attorney (POA) naming you or another family member as agent. Without a valid POA, children have no legal authority to list or sell a parent's home — even with the best intentions.

If a POA is not in place and your parent lacks capacity to sign one, guardianship or conservatorship through the Michigan probate court may be required. This takes time. If you're in this situation, talk to a Michigan elder law attorney immediately.

Scenario 2: Your Parent Has Recently Passed

When a parent passes away, the path to selling their home depends on how the property was held. If the home was in a living trust, the successor trustee can typically proceed with the sale without court involvement. If the home was held outright in the parent's name, the estate must go through Michigan's probate process — which requires Letters of Authority from the probate court before a purchase agreement can be signed.

The probate process in Michigan takes a minimum of five months from the date of death, though the practical timeline is often longer. Planning around this timeline — and making sure the home is maintained and secured during probate — is something we help families navigate.

The Step-Up in Basis: A Tax Benefit Most Families Don't Know About

When a parent passes and leaves real property to heirs, the heirs receive what's called a stepped-up cost basis — the property's fair market value at the date of death becomes the new basis, not the original purchase price.

This does not apply if you inherit through a living trust or as a joint tenant — the rules differ. Consult a CPA before you sell, not after.

What the Property Looks Like

Parent homes have usually been lived in for decades. That means deferred maintenance, dated finishes, and systems (furnace, water heater, roof, windows) that may be at or past their useful life. The question isn't whether to address these things — it's which ones move the needle on sale price and which ones don't.

Managing Multiple Family Members

If there are multiple adult children involved, expect some disagreement. About price. About what to fix. About timing. About what the home is worth emotionally versus financially. These conversations are hard, and they happen in the middle of grief.

We stay neutral. We provide data. We communicate with the person who has legal authority to act — and we keep the process moving without fanning family conflict. This is something we've done before, and we know how to handle it.

Where to Start

The first step is almost always the same: figure out who has legal authority to sell. Once that's clear, the rest of the process is straightforward. Call us for a confidential conversation — we can walk through your specific situation and tell you exactly what the path forward looks like.