Specialty Support: Real Estate Sales Involving Trusts and Estates

Real estate transactions come in different shapes and sizes. There are a number of variables that go into the sale or purchase of any given property, from how it’s financed to land rights and beyond. A real estate transaction that involves a trust or estate, rather than an individual, is just one of many ways a property might exchange hands.

PS Properties handles the sale of properties held in trusts and estates throughout Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, and has for years.

While data illustrating how frequently trust or estate sales occur in the Palm Springs or Coachella Valley area is not readily available, it is a fairly common circumstance. Industry estimates indicate that about 11% of people draft living trusts and take the follow-up steps to deed the properties involved to the trust. About 70% of people draft wills.

Real estate transactions involving assets in a will can become complicated, as probate is generally needed to sort out an inheritance. When a formal trust is completely funded, with deeded assets and banking information, things move a bit more smoothly.

Needless to say, it can all feel overwhelming for the person or family members who are left grieving a loss while navigating a web of assets, financial information and a legal process. At PS Properties, we understand that the process can feel foreign and complex.

But, the reason we understand that is because PS Properties has quite a bit of experience working in this type of environment, managing real estate transactions that are tethered to trusts and estates. That experience affords us invaluable insight on what to expect, and what is expected of us, as a transaction process unfolds.

Let’s walk through what is usually involved when a real estate transaction involves a trust or estate.

As with just about any real estate transaction, it’s always safe to expect the unexpected. Yes, there is a process and a framework that guides the sale of properties, but there are also outside variables that can cause snags along the way. Anyone who has purchased or sold a property can appreciate that.

When real estate transactions involve a trust or estate, it adds another layer of details to the process.

For example, the only person who is legally permitted to sell a property included in a trust or estate is the person who has been identified in the trust or appointed by a probate court. That means beneficiaries aren’t necessarily the individual who authorizes a sale, which is one reason why these types of transactions have the potential to carry with them some emotional angst. That also means that real estate professionals working on behalf of the estate only do so once a trustee has engaged them to sell the property. At PS Properties, our role as real estate professionals remains the same with a trust or estate sale as it does with any other property.

We focus on marketing the property and managing the transactional details of the sale. It certainly is helpful, though, that we also have an understanding of the ins and outs of these types of specialty transactions. For example, we know that most times these types of transactions do not require an attorney to be involved, but we understand that it isn’t uncommon for trustees to ask an attorney to oversee some of the finer details of the transaction.

Many people choose to involve attorneys in real estate transactions involving trusts to make sure that every detail is attended to, with an understanding that the sale could impact the inheritance of beneficiaries.

At PS Properties, we also know that most trustees do not need court approval to sell a property. But, there are exceptions. Those include:

• A trust that doesn’t have the property title transferred to it.
• Sales that involve a conflict of interest.
• Beneficiary disputing the sale.
• A trust that isn’t clear on selling authority.

As one of the leading real estate teams in the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley area, PS Properties has walked this walk with numerous clients. You might even recognize some of their names.

The PS Properties team has handled a number of real estate transactions that involve trusts and estates in Palm Springs and across the Coachella Valley. While each sale is unique, to the property, its owners and the end goal, there are always similarities throughout the process.

Every property we represent, and every seller we’ve worked with when managing a trust or estate sale, builds upon the expertise we’ve earned in this specific area of the real estate profession. We may have even worked with some clients with names that might ring a bell.

• The Bob Hope Estate: Considered a modernist masterpiece, the John Lautner-designed estate was commissioned for the late entertainer in the late 1960s. The six-acre estate sold for $13 million in 2016 and involved the Hope family trust.
• The Pond Estate: The 12-acre Palm Springs compound for Robert Pond, who co-founded the Palm Springs Air Museum, was sold through a trust sale and public auction in 2016. The home sold for $7.5 million.
• White Shadows: The Moroccan-themed, historic home in Thunderbird Heights, which goes by the nickname of White Shadows, involved a trust and sold for $5.995 million in 2025.

In addition to these notable estates, the team at PS Properties has also worked with a number of other high profile clients who wish to remain private. With the exception of Hollywood and New York City, few other areas conjure as much name recognition as the Palm Springs area when it comes to trust and estate sales.

Of course it goes without saying that the PS Properties team has also worked with numerous clients on estate and trust sales who have never had to deal with paparazzi.

PS Properties often works directly with family offices to facilitate the sale of a property held in a trust or estate. That trusted relationship, between PS Properties and family offices, allows for a single point of contact throughout the transaction. For family members who are out of state but still connected to the trust or estate sale, that single point of contact between the family offices and PS Properties is a valuable point of transparency throughout the sales process.

In practice, that looks like:

• PS Properties coordinating with in-house counsel, accountants or other attorneys involved in the trust and estate sale.
• PS Properties offering an off-market sale to protect privacy.
• PS Properties managing multiple properties through one relationship with the family office.
• PS Properties offering strategic support to the estate’s advisors on date-of-death appraisal and valuation matters.

The emotional aspect of the sale aside, we’ve seen that real estate sales linked to trusts and estates can seem overwhelming for the trustee or court-appointed designee handling the sale. Sometimes, the overwhelming part involves family dynamics. And sometimes, it’s related to the actual sales process.

An experienced guide, like the professionals on the PS Properties team, can make the process go a bit smoother and alleviate some of the burden associated with a complex trust or estate property sale. Although it’s never quite possible to know what to expect with a sale involving a trust or estate, here are a few common snags that can bog the process down.

• Beneficiary disagreements on price, timing and agent.
• A beneficiary who won’t vacate.
• A trust that is missing a deed.
• Disclosure uncertainties related to known material defects.
• Valuation misalignment among beneficiaries.
• Conflicts between co-trustees.
• Tax implications that create additional complexities.
• Notice periods and deadlines.
• Exempting personal property from real estate trust sale.

At PS Properties, we absolutely recognize that our expertise falls squarely into a real estate lane. With that being said, we’ve also earned quite a bit of valuable experience while representing property included in trusts and estates. So, we understand the steps that need to be taken to make a real estate sale successful when a trust or estate is involved.

And our extensive experience working with historic properties means the PS Properties team is intimately attuned to the specifics involving the Mills Act. For reference, a Mills Act contract conveys with a property, meaning the incentives and responsibilities associated with them, move from owner to owner.

The steps we list below offer a framework of what is involved in a California trust or estate sale, and by no means constitutes legal advice in any way, shape or form. It simply offers some top-line insight into the process for those who are curious about what to expect if and when they encounter this situation.

1. Reference the full trust document.
2. Access certified death certificate.
3. Accept trustee role.
4. Establish an EIN for the trust.
5. Offer formal notice to beneficiaries.
6. Initiate a date-of-death appraisal.
7. Check to see if the property was deeded to the trust.
8. Engage a trust attorney, if needed.
9. Work with a real estate professional who has experience in trust and estate sales.
10. Inform beneficiaries of pending offers and terms.
11. Open escrow with necessary documents.
12. Close sale by signing as the trustee.

If you need to sell a piece of real estate that is involved in a trust or estate in Palm Springs or elsewhere across the Coachella Valley, the experienced team at PS Properties is ready to help. To continue this conversation with our dedicated team, contact us below or call 760-779-4500.