Access to house after death

[joesxm3]

My attorney brought it up and research seems to confirm. Being a single guy it seems that the executor of my estate will not be allowed to enter my house until he is confirmed by the court which could take a month or more.

This seems to be a problem for various reasons, such as the boiler having a problem during really cold weather or protecting against break-ins.

This will be on my research list this year. It seems maybe a trustee would have access, but going that way has a lot of extra stuff that I may not need.

I suggested having a grant of access document but the attorney did not think that would work. Maybe expires at death like a POA.

I suppose the solution would be to get out of the house before I die, but at 68 I feel too young for that. I like the control and freedom of my own house.

 

[aja8888]

Do you have a child nearby?

I gave a key to my house to my daughter. She is also the executor of my stuff. We do not need to go through probate so she has control immediately. My house is deeded to her with a "transfer on death" deed. Plus, she has copies of everything she needs with written instructions on how to handle everything. I'm single and 81 so I am getting ready. Maybe I'll move into an apartment if I get tired of this place.

Pretty simple setup for me since everyone else is gone.

 

[DayDreaming]

Assuming the executor is someone you really trust, can you just give them a key now? After you're gone, the can then look after the house as a trusted friend, and not need to get lawyers involved.

 

[joesxm3]

I have no children. My current executor is someone I trust but he is older than me and probably over his head unraveling my financial stuff. I might have to fix that going forward.

The lawyer seemed to imp!y that even with a key the executor would be trespassing. I guess the big worry is that those with access would remove valuables that belong to the heirs.

 

[Midpack]

Assuming the executor is someone you really trust, can you just give them a key now? After you're gone, the can then look after the house as a trusted friend, and not need to get lawyers involved.

We don’t have kids. We’ve named 3 executors, the 2 co-executor primaries have keys already. If you trust someone to be an executor, certainly you trust them with a house key. They also have digital copies of our trust, and we provided a two page summary, with pictures, that tells them where everything is.

Keyless entry might be an option for some.

 

[aja8888]

I have no children. My current executor is someone I trust but he is older than me and probably over his head unraveling my financial stuff. I might have to fix that going forward.

The lawyer seemed to imp!y that even with a key the executor would be trespassing. I guess the big worry is that those with access would remove valuables that belong to the heirs.

I gave my family heirlooms to my daughter and nephews already, but I am much older than you and maybe you want those items around. I keep almost no real valuable stuff in the house anymore too.

Maybe shedding things early is not your preference.

 

[ponyboy]

I have no children. My current executor is someone I trust but he is older than me and probably over his head unraveling my financial stuff. I might have to fix that going forward.

The lawyer seemed to imp!y that even with a key the executor would be trespassing. I guess the big worry is that those with access would remove valuables that belong to the heirs.

Good point. They would throw your buddy in prison who has a key but if it's a squatter, the law would let them stay for 6 months for free.

 

[silvor]

My attorney brought it up and research seems to confirm. Being a single guy it seems that the executor of my estate will not be allowed to enter my house until he is confirmed by the court which could take a month or more.

This seems to be a problem for various reasons, such as the boiler having a problem during really cold weather or protecting against break-ins.

This will be on my research list this year. It seems maybe a trustee would have access, but going that way has a lot of extra stuff that I may not need.

I suggested having a grant of access document but the attorney did not think that would work. Maybe expires at death like a POA.

I suppose the solution would be to get out of the house before I die, but at 68 I feel too young for that. I like the control and freedom of my own house.

Like most attorneys, they over complicate things. Yes technically he may be right, but if someone had a key, who’s going to dispute that?

 

[ivinsfan]

How did your lawyer "suggest" you fix this issue? Does it involve more lawyer fees to fix this non-existent issue?

 

[GravitySucks]

Give the keys to the heirs. They won’t sue themselves.

Can’t imagine this will be a real life problem. Never heard of anyone being arrested for entering a dead friend/relatives house for non-nefarious reasons.

 

[euro]

Give the keys to the heirs. They won’t sue themselves.

Can’t imagine this will be a real life problem. Never heard of anyone being arrested for entering a dead friend/relatives house for non-nefarious reasons.

I tend to agree. I suppose, in theory, the lawyer is right, but in practice, I doubt this is a significant problem. Everyone potentially involved in this process (heirs, police, judges, etc) understand that these are special situations that may sometimes require special solutions.

 

[ncbill]

Guy across the street died suddenly & his relatives came the next day to take whatever they wanted.

It was at least a week before the court got around to appointing an administrator.

 

[disneysteve]

Give the executor a key. Problem solved.

I was the executor for my cousin who died in 2021. Not only did I have a key, but the day after his funeral (in NJ) I drove down to his house (in FL) and lived there for the next 6 weeks while I settled his affairs, took care of all of the legal and financial issues, sold or donated his belongings, and ultimately sold the house. I was court-appointed but not immediately. That took some time but that didn't stop me from working on everything else.

 

[joesxm3]

The lawyer suggested that he would try for an expedited emergency appointment of the executor if necessary.

My research came up with the idea of access for the trustee. It also agreed with the idea that early access via key would probably not be a problem as long as all the potential heirs were ok with it.

The heirs are the executor and his wife, another friend of ours and my cousin. One problem is I have not told them that they are in the will or the potential size of the estate because I worry about affecting our relationship or it being awkward.

I asked the lawyer if I can buy an hour this spring to discuss this and providing for my care if I suddenly become incapacitated. His initial reaction was to tell me about assisted living facilities.

I suppose the immediate mitigation will be to set my friend up with access to the house and maybe a joint account where he can have access to a few thousand dollars in case he suddenly needs to pay bills.

Decluttering and organizing is a never ending process. Especially since besides my pack rat accumulation I am still digging out from all the stuff I moved from step dads house.

Selling my collectables seems like a pain with the new EBAY tax treatment. They are a rounding error on the balance sheet. I almost feel like just giving them to some younger collectors that I post with on another forum.

Well I hope I have a few more years to figure this out.

 

[aja8888]

The lawyer suggested that he would try for an expedited emergency appointment of the executor if necessary.

My research came up with the idea of access for the trustee. It also agreed with the idea that early access via key would probably not be a problem as long as all the potential heirs were ok with it.

The heirs are the executor and his wife, another friend of ours and my cousin. One problem is I have not told them that they are in the will or the potential size of the estate because I worry about affecting our relationship or it being awkward.

I asked the lawyer if I can buy an hour this spring to discuss this and providing for my care if I suddenly become incapacitated. His initial reaction was to tell me about assisted living facilities.

I suppose the immediate mitigation will be to set my friend up with access to the house and maybe a joint account where he can have access to a few thousand dollars in case he suddenly needs to pay bills.

Decluttering and organizing is a never ending process. Especially since besides my pack rat accumulation I am still digging out from all the stuff I moved from step dads house.

Selling my collectables seems like a pain with the new EBAY tax treatment. They are a rounding error on the balance sheet. I almost feel like just giving them to some younger collectors that I post with on another forum.

Well I hope I have a few more years to figure this out.

My bold above...and if you suddenly don't, someone will figure it all out.

 

[disneysteve]

Selling my collectables seems like a pain with the new EBAY tax treatment.

There's no "new ebay tax treatment". The Federal tax laws have changed. For 2025, the threshold for issuing a 1099 form will be $2,500 and then $600 from 2026 on.

This changes nothing about selling on ebay. You already had to report your income whether you got a 1099 or not. It's simply an extra piece of paper to deal with. If this change affects you, that means you weren't doing it correctly before.

 

[joesxm3]

I have never sold on EBAY. What bothers me is that while I have the receipts for the expensive items, the correct way to report would be as a capital gain or a non-deductible loss but EBAY reports as small business sales income.

I also have a lot of small spare parts that I bought for less than $20 each and did not save receipts for.

There should be a category of "junk being sold to declutter" that is not taxed. I wonder how many garage sale people are reporting that. Same situation, no?

 

[disneysteve]

There should be a category of "junk being sold to declutter" that is not taxed. I wonder how many garage sale people are reporting that. Same situation, no?

There is sort of that category. If you sell under $2,500 this year, no 1099, so reporting is on the honor system. If you sell more than that, you're not just decluttering. You're running a business.

I'm sure nobody reports their garage sale income since it's all cash. But I also know dealers who have a "garage sale" every weekend from April through October. They're clearly cheating the system.

The difference between selling on ebay/etsy/poshmark/mercari/etc. is that there is an electronic record. Sales tax is being collected and remitted. You shouldn't be able to hide that income. They can't capture all income but changing the 1099 threshold was long overdue to capture hundreds of millions of dollars from online sales that was evading taxes before.

 

[brett]

My solution would be easy.

Give your executor a key. Ask him/her to simply monitor your home until he/she can move forward with dealing with the estate in the proper manner.

Keep in mind that your insurance policy will more than likely have a condition in it that the residence needs to be checked on a regular basis.

 

[cathy63]

I have never sold on EBAY. What bothers me is that while I have the receipts for the expensive items, the correct way to report would be as a capital gain or a non-deductible loss but EBAY reports as small business sales income.

I also have a lot of small spare parts that I bought for less than $20 each and did not save receipts for.

There should be a category of "junk being sold to declutter" that is not taxed. I wonder how many garage sale people are reporting that. Same situation, no?

There already is a way to report this. The first line of Schedule 1 now says "For 2024, enter the amount reported to you on Form(s) 1099-K that was included in error or for personal items sold at a loss".

You only report these sales on Sched D if it's a cap gain. A 1099-K is not necessarily a "small business sales income" form. It can be reported on Sched C or on Sched D or Sched 1, or all three, depending on what it's for.

 

[joesxm3]

Cathy you are a blessing to this forum. Thank you.

 

[Beldar]

When MIL & BIL (who lived in the same home) died within 3 days of each other, DW (who had a house key) & I flew to the location and went in. The estate attorney we hired had no issue with that. And had no issue with us securing valuable items off site immediately. No will, and it took the locate probate court about 2 months to appoint DW as administrator.

We even gave a key to a neighbor who was a friend of theirs to keep an eye on the property while we were away. No legal issues whatsoever. YMMV.

_B

 

[disneysteve]

There already is a way to report this. The first line of Schedule 1 now says "For 2024, enter the amount reported to you on Form(s) 1099-K that was included in error or for personal items sold at a loss".

You only report these sales on Sched D if it's a cap gain. A 1099-K is not necessarily a "small business sales income" form. It can be reported on Sched C or on Sched D or Sched 1, or all three, depending on what it's for.

Thank you for that. Being an active ebay seller, this topic comes up frequently in the ebay forums. While many of us are filing Schedule C because we're running a for-profit business, some are just doing an online yard sale to unload some household items for less than original cost.

 

[Pluperfect]

Give the keys to the heirs. They won’t sue themselves.

One thing people don't understand about the probate system is that it's really intended to ensure that creditors get paid. The probate court is basically a repository for documents for public access. Unless there's no will and intestate succession becomes involved, it doesn't care what's in the will or how estate property gets distributed among beneficiaries as long as nobody complains (sues).

I'm not sure about giving keys to all four beneficiaries (or three--one couple and two individuals). That might be kind of a mess, plus the OP said he didn't want to tell the beneficiaries they're going to inherit.

But it seems that giving a key to the executor would be a safe option because the executor has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries. Or, he does once he's appointed, so I suppose he could raid the place before he gets appointed and not be hindered by a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries? Surely your executor isn't that type of person, or you wouldn't be appointing him executor.

But the bottom line is that pretty much anything goes when there's an independent executor for a probated will as long as nobody complains.

Also, a nit: beneficiaries and heirs aren't the same thing. Friends can be beneficiaries because they're named in a will, but they can never be heirs.

 

[pb4uski]

Like most attorneys, they over complicate things. Yes technically he may be right, but if someone had a key, who’s going to dispute that?

+1. To begin with, who is going to enforce this alleged violation. Second, if the executor has a key and the will naming them as executor and id proving who they are is law enforcement going to make an issue of it? Is a DA likely to charge? I doubt it.