Selling estate property as a DC personal representative

The District says personal representative; other states say executor. Same role, and it carries a fiduciary duty — which is why on an estate sale, being able to show your work matters as much as the price you get.

What the role actually obligates you to

A personal representative acts for the estate and its interested persons, not for themselves. Where real property is concerned, that translates into a few concrete obligations:

• Identify, secure and insure the property — promptly. An empty, uninsured DC row house is a live risk from day one.
• Value it fairly as of the date of death for the inventory under D.C. Code § 20–711, generally within three months of appointment.
• Sell it, if it is to be sold, for a price you can defend as reasonable — and document how you arrived at it.
• Treat the heirs even-handedly. Not equally happy, which is impossible, but equally informed.
• Keep records. Everything.

How to make the price defensible

The protection is not a particular number. It is evidence that you ran a fair process. In practice that means:

1. An independent written opinion of value before you decide anything, kept in the file.
2. Real market exposure — the property listed and shown to the whole market, so the price is tested rather than asserted. This is the strongest single piece of evidence a PR can have.
3. Written offers preserved, including the ones you turned down and why.
4. A clear reason for the chosen offer where it was not simply the highest number — a cash buyer with no financing contingency and a fast settlement is often genuinely better for an estate, and saying so in writing is what makes it defensible.

If instead you accept an unsolicited offer with nothing to compare it against, you may still have gotten a fair price. You just have no way to prove it.

The inventory and the date-of-death value

Under § 20–711 you generally must file a verified inventory within three months of appointment, describing each item of estate property and its fair market value as of the date of death, with encumbrances noted.

For most DC estates the house is essentially the whole inventory. A date-of-death opinion of value is a specific product: not today's price, not the OTR assessment, but a supportable opinion of what the property was worth on a particular past date. We prepare these in writing, without charge, whether or not the estate ever lists with us. How the figure is used on the estate's filings is a question for your attorney or CPA.

More on date-of-death valuations.

Managing the heirs without becoming the villain

The PR is structurally in an awkward position: usually one of the siblings, now the one who has to say no. A few things reliably reduce the friction:

• Send the same information to everyone at the same time. Most conflict starts with someone finding out second.
• Let a third party deliver the bad news about value. A written valuation from outside the family is far easier for people to accept than the same number from a brother.
• Correct the distribution expectation early. Heirs are usually not paid at settlement; proceeds go to the estate first.
• Put decisions in writing, even to family. Particularly the ones people agreed to verbally.

When heirs disagree.

The practical checklist

• Insurance. Confirm the policy is in force and that the carrier knows the property is unoccupied. Many policies restrict coverage after 30 to 60 days vacant.
• Tax classification. Check whether the property has been flagged vacant — Class 3 is taxed at $5.00 per $100 of assessed value and Class 4 blighted at $10.00, against $0.85 for occupied residential.
• Utilities. Keep enough on to prevent freeze damage. A burst pipe in a vacant DC house in January is a five-figure event.
• Secure it. Locks changed, mail handled, exterior maintained to avoid DCRA-type complaints.
• Tenants. If anyone is living there, paying rent or not, stop and get advice before listing.
• Documents. Certified Letters, the deed, the most recent tax bill, any mortgage or lien information.

Sources: D.C. Code Title 20 (Probate); D.C. Law 25-302, the Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024; the Office of the Register of Wills, D.C. Superior Court Probate Division (dccourts.gov); and the D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer on deed transfer tax and real property tax classes (cfo.dc.gov). Rates and rules change and individual cases vary — confirm anything that affects a decision with the Register of Wills, OTR, or your own attorney or CPA.