Selling a House After the Death of a Spouse

The house question comes up before you’re ready

You lost your spouse. The house is in both names — or maybe only one. The mortgage is still due. Family is asking what you plan to do. And you don’t know yet.

Before anything else: how title was held on the deed determines your actual timeline. That one fact changes what happens next more than anything else.

How title was held — the first thing to check

Pull the deed. The language on it tells you everything.

Joint tenants with right of survivorship (JTWROS) — or in Tennessee, “tenants by the entirety” — means the house is already yours, legally, from the date of death. File an Affidavit of Surviving Spouse at the county Register of Deeds, attach a certified copy of the death certificate, and title is clear. No court involvement.

Tenants in common — each spouse owned a specific percentage share. Your spouse’s share is now part of their estate. To sell the whole house, that share needs to move through probate first — the full process is covered on our page about selling a house during probate. If there was no will, state intestate succession law determines who inherits it.

Sole ownership in your spouse’s name — you’ll need letters testamentary or letters of administration from the probate court before a sale can close. If children or other family members inherit alongside you, those conversations need to happen before any listing.

Most married couples in Tennessee hold title as tenants by the entirety under TCA § 66-1-109 — it converts automatically to sole ownership at death. Texas is a community property state, so you likely already owned 50 percent outright, and your spouse’s half passes to you under the Texas Estates Code unless there are children from a prior relationship. In Florida, joint tenancy with right of survivorship must be expressly stated in the deed under FL Statute § 689.115 — a deed that says only “joint tenants” without the survivorship language may not carry those rights, depending on when it was drafted.

The Section 121 window — why timing matters

If you’ve lived in the house as your primary residence for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains when you sell. A married couple filing jointly could exclude $500,000.

When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse still qualifies for the full $500,000 exclusion — but only if you sell before the second anniversary of the date of death. After that window closes, you file as a single taxpayer and the exclusion drops to $250,000.

On a home purchased for $175,000 and now worth $545,000, that’s a $370,000 gain. The $500,000 exclusion covers it entirely. After the two-year window, only $250,000 is excluded, leaving $120,000 of taxable gain — roughly $18,000 to $24,000 in federal capital gains tax at most brackets.

Texas works differently. It is a community property state, which means the entire property gets a full step-up in basis to fair market value at the date of death — not just the deceased’s half. If the house is worth $545,000 on the day your spouse dies, your new cost basis is $545,000. A sale near that value produces no capital gains regardless of what was originally paid. This only applies in community property states.

In Tennessee, Florida, and other separate property states, only the deceased spouse’s half gets the step-up to current market value. Your half keeps its original basis.

None of this forces a decision today. It just means the two-year clock is worth knowing if there’s a large gain and you’re already leaning toward selling in the next few years.

If there was a reverse mortgage

If your spouse held a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) — a federally insured reverse mortgage — and you were not listed as a co-borrower, the loan becomes due when the borrower dies.

HUD gives non-borrowing surviving spouses up to six months from the date of death to sell or pay off the loan. Extensions of up to two additional 90-day periods are available if you’re actively working toward a sale.

A conventional listing with a financed buyer takes 45 days at minimum. If the deed situation needs sorting, or a probate filing is required, six months narrows fast. We’ve bought more than 100 houses in situations like this — when the HECM servicer sets a timeline, a 7-to-14-day cash close leaves months of buffer. You can also read more about selling a house to stop a forced sale if the mortgage has fallen behind in addition.

What this looks like in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida

Tennessee

Tennessee uses non-judicial foreclosure under TCA § 35-5-101. If the mortgage falls behind, the process can complete in 60 to 90 days — no court, just a trustee’s notice and a sale date. There is no redemption period after the sale.

For title transfer: Tennessee’s Tenants by Entirety statute (TCA § 66-1-109) means most married couples’ property passes automatically at death. File the Affidavit of Surviving Spouse at the Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner, or Wilson County Register of Deeds.

Where probate is needed: Davidson County Chancery Court handles estate administration. A straightforward estate with no creditor disputes typically takes four to eight months. Selling during that period requires court approval unless the will grants the executor explicit power of sale.

Texas

Texas is a community property state. Both spouses own all community property equally, regardless of whose income funded it. When your spouse dies, you already own your 50 percent. Under Texas Estates Code § 201.003, if your spouse died without a will and there are no children from a prior relationship, all community property passes to you without probate.

If children from a prior relationship exist, their share of the community property passes to them — which complicates any sale and may require partition action or a signed agreement among all heirs. Our page on selling an inherited house covers how multi-heir sales typically work.

The Texas homestead protection under the Texas Constitution, Article XVI § 50, prevents forced sale by creditors. It places no restriction on a voluntary sale by the surviving spouse.

TREC Form OP-H disclosure still applies. Document and disclose what you know about the property’s condition.

Florida

Florida homestead law creates complications that don’t exist in most states.

Under Article X § 4 of the Florida Constitution, homestead property cannot be devised away from a surviving spouse or minor children. If your spouse’s will tried to leave the homestead to someone else, that provision fails. The surviving spouse has the right to use and occupy the home for life — or to take a one-half undivided interest in fee simple instead (FL Statute § 732.4015).

If you are the surviving spouse and want to sell, you generally can — but if there are minor children with homestead rights, a court order may be needed before title can transfer.

Florida’s judicial foreclosure process takes 12 to 18 months if the mortgage falls behind. That’s longer runway than Tennessee’s 60-to-90-day non-judicial process — but monthly carrying costs on a vacant South Florida home (insurance, utilities, lawn, HOA) run $2,800 to $4,200. A year of carrying costs on a $350,000 home in Hillsborough or Pinellas County is $33,600 to $50,400.

Who should not sell to a cash buyer

If the title is clear, the mortgage is current, the house is in good condition, and you have four to six months before any financial pressure — list it with a real estate agent. The difference between a cash offer and a retail listing price on a well-maintained home in a moving market is typically $20,000 to $40,000 on a $300,000 home. That gap is real and worth protecting if the situation allows.

Cash buyers are the right answer when: the timeline is forced by a reverse mortgage coming due, the mortgage has fallen behind, the condition makes financing difficult, or managing showings and negotiations while handling an estate and your own life isn’t feasible right now.

If none of those apply — use a traditional agent. An offer from us has no obligation and costs nothing, but if you have time and a market-ready house, the extra money belongs to you.

Straight answers

Do I need probate to sell the house after my spouse dies?

Not if you held title as joint tenants with right of survivorship or as tenants by the entirety. Title passed to you automatically at death and you can sell without any court involvement. If the house was held as tenants in common or in your spouse’s name alone, that share must go through probate first.

Can the bank call the mortgage due when my spouse dies?

No. The Garn-St. Germain Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3, specifically prohibits lenders from calling a loan due when it transfers to a surviving spouse. You can keep making payments, refinance into your own name, or sell. A reverse mortgage (HECM) is the exception — that loan can become due.

How long do I have before I need to decide?

There’s no legal deadline unless there’s a reverse mortgage coming due, a mortgage that’s behind and moving toward foreclosure, or property taxes heading toward a tax sale. The Section 121 two-year window is a tax planning factor, not a legal deadline. Take the time you need.

Can I sell the house as-is without making repairs first?

Yes. A cash buyer buys as-is — no repairs, no inspection contingency, no lender appraisal required. You disclose what you know under state law (TCA § 66-5-202 in Tennessee, TREC Form OP-H in Texas, FL Statute § 689.261 in Florida), and the buyer prices the condition into the offer. What you skip: contractor negotiations, repair credits, and the risk of a lender pulling back if the appraiser flags something.

What happens when you call us

You give us the address. We look at the property, ask a few questions about condition and timeline, and come back with a cash offer within 24 hours. You pick the closing date. We close in 7 to 14 days if that’s what the situation calls for — or later, if you need time to sort belongings, wait for a probate order, or simply make sure the number is right for you.

No commissions. No closing costs on your end. No repairs. If your situation is a better fit for a traditional listing, we’ll say so.

Call us at (615) 780-7349 or enter your address in the form above.