The short answer
Each one has its own costs and rules. Renting makes you a landlord, with rent to report to the IRS and fair housing rules to follow.
Keeping the house, or letting a relative live there, has tax and ownership effects of its own. And when several of you own it together, any one of you can usually ask a court to divide it or sell it.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Ask the executor, if there is one, or a probate lawyer who will own the house, and in what shares.
- Write down what keeping, selling and renting would each cost for a year.
- Ask a tax preparer how each option would be taxed for you.
- Learn the state and local landlord rules before you rent, if renting is an option.
- Look for any lead paint records, if the house was built before 1978.
- Get an independent appraisal, if anyone wants to buy the others out.
What can wait
Who can help
A real estate or probate lawyer in the state where the house is can explain ownership, buyouts and partition. If money is tight, ask a legal aid office or a law school clinic.
A tax preparer can compare how each choice is taxed. A landlord-tenant lawyer can explain landlord rules, and a fair housing agency can answer before you advertise.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 4: Their House
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 2. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 3 to 15 after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- What if we cannot agree about the house? Book 5, Siblings and the Estate
- What if one of us cared for Mom or Dad for years? Book 5, Siblings and the Estate
- What happens to a mortgage or reverse mortgage? Book 4, Their House
- Do I owe tax on what I inherit? Book 3, Their Money
Hear when Their House is out
A short note when each book is out. Five or six emails a year at most. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.