Selling a DC house held in a revocable living trust
If the deed says “as trustee”, you are probably not in probate at all — and the sale can move much faster. But “no probate” does not mean “no process”: DC has its own rules on trustee authority, creditor claims, contest windows, and what a title company will accept before it insures the sale.
First question: whose name is on the deed?
Everything follows from the recorded deed, not from the will and not from what the family believes. Pull it from the Recorder of Deeds before doing anything else.
- Deed in the decedent's individual name. This is probate. Under D.C. Code § 20–105, the property passes to the personal representative for administration, and no contract closes until Letters of Administration exist. See Letters of Administration and why they unlock the sale.
- Deed to a trustee — “Jane Doe, Trustee of the Doe Family Revocable Trust dated …”. The house is trust property. It never becomes part of the probate estate, and the successor trustee, not a personal representative, signs the contract and the deed.
- A trust exists but the deed was never changed. Extremely common, and the worst of both worlds: the trust document names the house, the record title does not. That property is still in the individual name, so it goes through probate to be sold — the unfunded trust does not move title by itself.
If title was never cleaned up after an earlier death in the family, that is a different problem with a different fix — see the house was never probated.
Where a successor trustee's authority comes from
A personal representative gets authority from the court. A trustee gets it from the trust instrument plus the D.C. Uniform Trust Code, and there is no appointment hearing.
Acceptance. Under § 19–1307.01(a), a person named as trustee accepts the trusteeship by complying with any method the trust specifies, or otherwise by accepting delivery of trust property, exercising powers, or performing duties as trustee. A designated trustee who has not accepted may still act to preserve the property — securing the house, keeping insurance in force — and then reject, if a rejection is sent within a reasonable time (§ 19–1307.01(c)(1)).
Power to sell. § 19–1308.16(2) gives a trustee the power to acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale, without court approval — subject to the terms of the trust. Read the instrument anyway: a trust can condition or restrict a sale, require co-trustee signatures, or direct that the home be distributed rather than sold.
Notice to beneficiaries. Within 60 days of accepting, the trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and give name, address, and phone (§ 19–1308.13(b)(2)), and within 60 days of learning that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable — which is what the settlor's death does — must notify them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, and their right to request a copy of the instrument and a trustee's report (§ 19–1308.13(b)(3)). Reports of property, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, and distributions are owed annually and at termination (§ 19–1308.13(c)).
If a named successor does not want the job, § 19–1307.05(a) allows resignation on at least 30 days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living, and any co-trustee or next successor trustee — or with court approval. Resigning does not erase liability for what was already done.
What the title company will actually ask for
This is where trust sales stall in the District. The title company is insuring that the person signing had authority, so build the file first.
DC law gives you a clean tool: a certification of trust under § 19–1310.13. Instead of handing over the whole trust instrument to a non-beneficiary, the trustee may furnish a certification stating that the trust exists and its execution date, the settlor's identity, the identity and address of the currently acting trustee, the trustee's powers, whether the trust is revocable, the co-trustee signing authority, the trust's taxpayer identification number, and the manner of taking title. It must state that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any way that would make those representations incorrect (subsection (c)), and it need not contain the dispositive terms (subsection (d)).
The recipient may still require excerpts from the instrument and later amendments that designate the trustee and confer the power to act in the pending transaction (subsection (e)). Someone relying in good faith on a certification is protected (subsections (f) and (g)) — and a person who demands the full trust instrument in addition, in bad faith, is liable for damages (subsection (h)).
| Document | Why it is asked for |
|---|---|
| Recorded deed into the trust | Proves the house was actually funded into the trust |
| Certification of trust (§ 19–1310.13) | Establishes existence, current trustee, powers, and taxpayer ID without exposing the dispositive terms |
| Excerpts naming the successor trustee and the power to sell | Ties the signer on the contract to the instrument |
| Death certificate of the settlor / prior trustee | Shows the succession event that put the successor in office |
| Trust EIN, or the settlor's SSN if still a grantor trust | Needed for settlement reporting |
| Evidence of the § 19–1308.13 beneficiary notices | Not always requested — but it is the file that protects you |
Sign exactly as record title reads, in the trustee capacity. A deed signed personally by someone who happens to also be the trustee is a title defect that surfaces at the worst moment.
Death of the settlor: creditors and the contest window
A revocable trust is not a shield against the settlor's debts, and this is the part that surprises families most.
Under § 19–1305.05(a)(1), during the settlor's lifetime the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors. After death, (a)(3) makes the property of a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death subject to the settlor's creditors' claims, costs of administering the settlor's estate, funeral and disposal expenses, and the statutory family allowances — to the extent the settlor's residuary probate estate is inadequate to satisfy them.
Two procedural provisions matter for a trustee planning a sale:
- If a probate estate is opened (other than a small estate proceeding), trust property is not liable for claims against the settlor that were not properly presented in that estate proceeding (§ 19–1305.05(c)).
- If no estate is opened, the trustee may publish a notice substantially similar to the § 20–704 notice, and thereby obtain for the trust the same protection a decedent's estate gets under § 20–903: claims are barred unless presented to the trustee at the noticed address within 6 months of first publication (§ 19–1305.05(d)).
Separately, a trust that was revocable at death can be contested. § 19–1306.04(a) sets the deadline at the earliest of: one year after the settlor's death; 90 days after the trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument with a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address, and the time allowed; or six months after first publication of a notice of the trust's existence, if the trustee also sends the text to each qualified beneficiary, heir, and other person who would be an interested person and entitled to § 20–704 notice, within 15 days of first publication.
The trustee may distribute after the settlor's death without liability unless the trustee knows of a pending contest, or a potential contestant has given notice and files within 60 days of that notification (§ 19–1306.04(b)). A beneficiary of a trust later held invalid must return distributions (subsection (c)).
Recordation and transfer tax: the trust exemptions
DC charges recordation tax on the deed and transfer tax on the transfer — each 1.1% of consideration under $400,000 and 1.45% at or above $400,000 for residential property. On a normal sale to a third-party buyer, a trust sale is taxed like any other sale. But the moves around the sale are often exempt.
- Funding the trust. A deed conveying bare legal title to the trustee of a revocable trust, without consideration, where the transferor is the beneficiary, is exempt from recordation tax (§ 42–1102(17)); the parallel transfer tax exemption is § 47–902(12).
- Distributing to a beneficiary after death. A deed to property transferred to a beneficiary of a revocable trust as a result of the grantor's death is exempt from recordation tax (§ 42–1102(18)), with the transfer tax exemption at § 47–902(13).
- Trustee steps into the grantor's shoes. A deed or transfer by the trustee of a revocable trust is exempt if it would have been exempt had the grantor of the trust made it (§ 42–1102(19) and § 47–902(14)).
Holding costs do not pause because the property is in a trust. The vacant and blighted classifications, the Class 1A rate, and the exemption clocks work the same way — with one important difference: the probate-specific relief that keeps certain estate-owned vacant property off the Class 3 rate is written for a decedent's estate in administration, so do not assume a trust-held vacant house qualifies. Confirm the classification with the Office of Tax Revenue before budgeting. Details of the rates are in what an inherited DC property costs to hold.
On the income tax side, the federal basis question is the same one heirs ask in probate: property included in the decedent's estate generally gets a new basis at date-of-death value, so a sale soon after death often produces little or no gain. That is a CPA question and the numbers turn on facts we do not see — get it answered in writing before the proceeds are split.
When you end up in probate anyway
“We have a trust” is not the end of the analysis. Estates land in probate alongside a trust more often than families expect:
- The deed was never changed. The single most common reason. The trust is real; the house is not in it.
- A second property, or a car, or an account with no beneficiary. A pour-over will has to be admitted for those assets, which means opening an estate.
- The residuary probate estate cannot cover the settlor's debts, so trust property is reached under § 19–1305.05(a)(3) and the two sides have to be administered in step.
- A dispute among beneficiaries. A trust keeps the sale out of court; it does not keep the family out of court. Co-owners at odds is its own problem — see partition actions in DC.
- A gap in the chain of title from a prior generation, which the trust cannot repair.
The practical sequencing question is whether the house can be marketed while an estate is opened for the rest. Usually it can, when the house is genuinely trust-titled. That is a question worth answering in week one rather than week eight.
Realistic timeline, trust vs probate
| Step | Trust-held house | Probate house |
|---|---|---|
| Authority to sign | On acceptance of the trusteeship — days | After Letters of Administration issue |
| Court involvement in the sale | None, unless the trust or a dispute requires it | None if unsupervised; approval step if supervised |
| Proof of authority at settlement | Certification of trust plus excerpts | Letters of Administration and the docket |
| Creditor exposure | Yes — § 19–1305.05; optional 6-month notice route | Claims process under Title 20 |
| Challenge window | Up to 1 year, shortenable to 90 days or 6 months (§ 19–1306.04) | Caveat and objection deadlines under Title 20 |
| Public record of the terms | Trust terms stay private | Will and inventory are public record |
For how the probate column actually plays out in the District, see how long DC probate really takes and supervised vs unsupervised administration.
Where we fit
We are a District real estate brokerage, not a law firm or a CPA firm. Whether a specific trust authorises a sale, whether to publish a creditor notice, and how basis works for your family are questions for your trust or probate attorney and your accountant. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
What we do is the market side, and we do it early: pull the recorded deed and tell you plainly whether the house is trust-titled or headed for probate, provide a written date-of-death opinion of value the trustee can put in the file, and work with a title company that has closed DC trust sales before, so the certification-of-trust conversation happens in week one instead of three days before settlement. We do the valuation whether or not the trust ever lists with us.
Related reading: selling a house in DC probate, a fiduciary's duties when the estate owns a house, selling from out of state, and the house that was never probated.
Sources: D.C. Code Title 20; the Probate Division of the D.C. Superior Court and the Office of the Register of Wills (dccourts.gov); and D.C. Law 25-302, the Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024. Rules change and individual cases vary — confirm anything that affects a decision with the Register of Wills or your own attorney.