Selling an inherited property

On death, the estate passes as a whole to the heirs by operation of law; ownership and limited rights in rem change hands automatically. However, the heirs can only dispose of a plot of land once the succession has been entered in the land register. That is the first step, and it cannot be skipped.

The entry requires a certificate of inheritance (Erbenbescheinigung) – available in Basel-Stadt from the Probate Office (Erbschaftsamt) – or a notarial deed of succession (Erbgangsbeurkundung) drawn up by a notary's office, plus the land register application, the inventory value or tax value, and copies of identity documents. A single heir is sufficient to apply for registration of the succession; for the later division of the estate, all must apply jointly.

Until the division, the heirs are joint owners (Gesamteigentümer) and dispose of the rights of the estate jointly. For the sale this means: unanimity. One person alone cannot sell, nor can that person dispose of his or her share in the property alone.

If someone blocks, there are ways forward. Any co-heir can demand the division at any time. If a property cannot sensibly be divided and the heirs cannot agree on who is to receive it, it must be sold and the proceeds divided – by auction if one heir so demands. And at the request of a co-heir, the authority can appoint a representative of the heirs.

Land is to be credited to the heirs at the market value (Verkehrswert) it has at the time of the division – not at the tax value, not at the value at the time of death. If the heirs cannot agree on the value to be credited, it is assessed by officially appointed experts. That is precisely why a transparent valuation is worthwhile early on: it prevents the dispute that otherwise leads to the expert opinion.

Incidentally, the division agreement itself only requires simple written form. It is the purchase contract that must be notarised, not the division among the heirs.

The Basel-Stadt Probate Office draws up an inventory on every death of a person resident here, and also when a person resident elsewhere leaves a property in Basel. On the time required, the office itself writes: several months may pass before the inventory is drawn up, and it takes several months or even a year until an inheritance case is settled, longer in complicated cases. On top of that come around another four to eight weeks for the entry in the land register.

No official source gives a total duration, and we do not invent one. But the sequence is fixed: inventory, then certificate of inheritance, then registration of the succession – and only after that can the property be sold. Anyone who knows that early plans differently.

That can be solved, but it costs time. Powers of attorney are permitted in land register proceedings, and the authorisation can be given in the division agreement itself. Depending on the country concerned, signatures from abroad must be certified and furnished with an apostille or legalised by a consulate. In Basel-Stadt a certification costs CHF 15, an apostille CHF 20.

What level of certification the land registry requires for a power of attorney drawn up abroad depends on the individual case – we clarify that in advance instead of finding out at the notarisation appointment. We do not comment on the tax consequences for heirs resident abroad; that is a matter for tax or legal advice.

The transfer on inheritance does not trigger property gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer) – it is deferred, not waived, and falls due on the later sale. Changes of ownership in the course of the division of an estate are exempt from property transfer tax (Handänderungssteuer) in both Basel cantons. In Basel-Stadt, spouses and descendants are exempt from inheritance tax, descendants since 2003.

We do not mediate between heirs and do not take on mediation. If the dispute is legal in nature, it belongs with a lawyer or a notary. Our task is the property: to value it properly, to sell it properly, and to make it clear to everyone involved how the price is arrived at. That does not resolve a dispute, but it removes the basis for it that arises from differing levels of information.