Questions Probate Attorneys Ask Cash Buyers

Probate attorneys ask cash buyers the questions the court file will ask: who exactly is buying and how title will vest, whether the contract can be assigned, where the deposit sits, whether the funds are real and in the buyer's own name, whether the offer will hold through a hearing and a continuance, and whether the buyer has any tie to the personal representative. They also want the price explained against the probate inventory value and, on a confirmation sale, the 90 percent floor. A buyer who answers those in writing, before the petition is drafted, saves the estate a step; one who cannot is a risk to the sale.

This article sets out those questions, why each one matters to the file, and how a written cash offer should answer it. It is written for attorneys, paralegals and administrators reading a cash offer, and it describes the buyer's side only.

Where the questions come from

Most of them trace to two Judicial Council forms. The notice of proposed action (DE-165) must state the material terms of the sale, including the price and any commission, under Probate Code section 10585. The report of sale and petition for confirmation (DE-260) asks for the purchaser's name and vesting, the amount bid, the deposit, whether payment is cash or credit, whether the purchaser is the representative or the representative's attorney, the commission and who procured the buyer, and the overbid arithmetic. Every answer a buyer gives ends up in one of those boxes.

1. Who is the buyer, and who will take title?

What the attorney is checking: that the name on the purchase agreement, the name on the proof of funds and the vesting on DE-260 are the same person or entity, and that the person signing can bind it.

A good answer: the legal name of the buyer, its type of entity, the signer's title, and the exact vesting as it should appear on the deed. If any of those may change before closing, the buyer says so now.

2. Is the contract assignable?

What the attorney is checking: whether the buyer intends to assign the contract to someone else for a fee. An assignment changes who takes title after the court, or the heirs reading a DE-165, has relied on the name given.

A good answer: a plain yes or no in the agreement. If yes, the buyer names the assignee before the notice goes out or the petition is filed. Why this comes up is covered in wholesaling explained for sellers.

3. Can you show proof of funds, and from whom?

What the attorney is checking: that the money exists, is available, and belongs to the buyer named in question 1, not to a partner or a lender who has not committed.

A good answer: a dated bank or lender letter in the buyer's name, with a contact who can confirm it. A screenshot of a balance is not proof. The verification steps are in how to verify proof of funds from a cash buyer.

4. Where is the deposit, and when is it at risk?

What the attorney is checking: that the deposit shown on DE-260 is actually in escrow, with an independent escrow company, and what happens to it if the buyer is overbid, if the hearing is continued, or if the buyer walks.

A good answer: the escrow company's name, the deposit date, and written terms for each of those three cases. Local court practice on deposits for overbids varies by county, so the buyer should be ready to meet what the court in that county expects. Deposit basics are in earnest money: how much and who holds it.

5. Will the offer hold through the hearing and a continuance?

What the attorney is checking: whether the offer has an expiration date that the court's calendar could pass. A hearing date is set by the court and can move.

A good answer: an agreement that stays open through the confirmation hearing and any continuance, stated as a date range or tied to the hearing itself, with no loan contingency to expire underneath it. What the hearing does to the offer is in what a probate court confirmation and overbid does to a cash offer.

6. What contingencies are left?

What the attorney is checking: whether the offer is as firm as it looks. An inspection or title contingency that survives past acceptance gives the buyer an exit the court will not see.

A good answer: the walkthrough happens before the offer, so the price already carries the condition, and the remaining terms are written out. Disclosure duties also differ in estate sales: Civil Code section 1102.2 exempts certain transfers made in the course of administering an estate from the transfer disclosure statement. Which disclosures still apply is for counsel; the buyer's job is not to hide behind the exemption.

7. Do you have any connection to the representative or to us?

What the attorney is checking: self-dealing. Probate Code section 9880 generally bars a personal representative from buying estate property directly or indirectly, and DE-260 asks whether the purchaser is the representative or the representative's attorney.

A good answer: a written statement of any relationship, business or family, with the representative, the heirs or counsel. "None" is a fine answer when it is true.

8. Is a broker involved, and who is paid?

What the attorney is checking: the commission the court will be asked to approve, and who procured the buyer. Commissions in probate sales are set under Probate Code section 10160 and the sections after it, and DE-260 lists them.

A good answer: whether the buyer is represented, by whom, and what, if anything, the estate is asked to pay. A buyer who is also a licensed agent says so.

9. Will you bid at the hearing if someone overbids?

What the attorney is checking: what happens in the courtroom. Under section 10311, the court accepts a higher offer from a responsible bidder if it beats the original bid by at least 10 percent of the first $10,000 and 5 percent of the rest, and if more than one offer qualifies, the court takes the highest.

A good answer: a written yes or no. Some buyers attend and bid; some do not. Either is honest if it is stated before the hearing date.

10. What supports the price?

What the attorney is checking: whether the number can be explained to the court and to heirs, and, on a confirmation sale, whether it clears section 10309: at least 90 percent of an appraisal made within one year of the hearing.

A good answer: the comparable sales and each condition deduction on paper, so a price near the floor can be traced to its causes. That written work is not an appraisal and should never be called one; the inventory value comes from the probate referee. If the deductions suggest the referee's value missed the house's condition, the attorney can decide whether to ask for a new appraisal. See the 90 percent rule and the referee's appraisal.

11. What is the net to the estate?

What the attorney is checking: what the estate actually receives after the costs escrow will take, because that figure goes into the accounting.

A good answer: a line-item net. Local items belong on it. A Pomona sale pays a city documentary transfer tax on top of Los Angeles County's. A Rancho Cucamonga house inside a community facilities district may carry special tax arrears that escrow pays. The order confirming sale records in the county where the house sits, under section 10314.

What attorneys can expect from the written report

Each estate file here gets two numbers on the same house: the as-is cash offer and an open-market read, which is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal, both with comps, deductions and the net. The comps, deductions and net are on the page, and the answers to the other questions above can be put in writing with the offer, because the administrator has to attach this paperwork to the file and show it to heirs who were not at the walkthrough. When the open market nets more, for example where the representative has full authority, the heirs agree and the house would finance easily, the written recommendation says so and introduces a designated local expert.

For the papers on the estate's side, see what an administrator needs on paper for the court and the pillar on probate sales and cash that holds; the full set is in the probate sales knowledge center. To request a written offer on an estate house, see probate sale cash offers or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• Judicial Council of California, form DE-260, Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property: courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Council of California, form DE-165, Notice of Proposed Action: courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10585 (contents of the notice of proposed action): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 9880 (representative may not purchase estate property): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10160 and following (agent and broker compensation): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10309 (appraisal within one year; 90 percent floor): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10311 (overbid at the confirmation hearing): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10314 (conveyance after confirmation; recording the order): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.2 (transfers exempt from the transfer disclosure statement): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, documentary transfer tax (county rate and the cities with an added city tax, including Pomona): lavote.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• City of Rancho Cucamonga, special districts: cityofrc.us, accessed November 6, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm and does not advise the estate or its counsel. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.