You have been named executor, and the biggest single thing in the estate is a house full of a lifetime of belongings. This guide walks through the executor's responsibilities for that house in the order they usually come up, from the first week through the day you hand over the keys, and it tells you plainly which decisions belong to your estate attorney rather than to you.
Secure the property in the first week
An empty house draws problems quickly, and the older housing stock around Pittsburgh has its own vulnerabilities. Frozen pipes in January, a sump pump that quits during a spring storm, a back door that was never quite locked. Walk the whole place, basement to attic, and write down what you find.
Change the locks or at least account for every key. Neighbors, cleaning helpers, and grandchildren often have copies nobody remembers. Set the thermostat low but not off during cold months so the pipes do not freeze. If the house will sit empty for a while, ask a plumber about shutting off and draining the water, which is a common step for vacant homes here.
Then call the homeowner's insurance company. Tell them the owner has died and the house is unoccupied. Many standard policies change or lapse when a home sits vacant, and you may need a vacant property endorsement or a different policy altogether. Losing coverage on the estate's largest asset is one of the few executor mistakes that cannot be undone, so make this call before almost anything else.
- Photograph every room, closet, the garage, and the basement before anything is moved, for the record and for insurance.
- Forward the mail to yourself through the post office so bills and notices reach you.
- Stop newspaper delivery and anything else that piles up on the porch.
- Ask a trusted neighbor to call you if they see lights, cars, or an open door.
- Set outdoor lights on timers and keep the walk shoveled in winter so the house looks lived in.
Keep the house running and keep every receipt
The estate, not you personally, is responsible for the house's ongoing costs. Property taxes, the mortgage if there is one, utilities, lawn and snow, and insurance all keep coming due. Once you are appointed, the attorney will typically help you open an estate bank account, and those expenses should flow through it.
Until that account exists, you may have to pay some things yourself to keep the lights on. Keep every receipt and a simple log with the date, what you paid, and why. Executors are usually entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses, but only if you can show what they were. A shoebox of receipts and a notebook is fine. A spreadsheet is better.
Find the mortgage statement, the tax bill, and the utility accounts early. Call each one, explain the situation, and ask what they need from you. Some companies will let you keep an account in the deceased person's name for a while; others will insist on estate paperwork. Write down who you spoke to and when.
Inventory and value the contents before anyone takes anything
One of the core executor responsibilities for a house is producing an inventory of what was in it and what it was worth. This is not just paperwork. Pennsylvania has an inheritance tax, and the estate attorney will need to know the value of the real estate and, in many cases, the contents. The exact rules and thresholds are the attorney's territory. Your job is to make sure the information exists.
Practically, that means nothing leaves the house until you have walked through it with a list and a camera. For the house itself, the attorney will usually recommend a licensed appraiser rather than a realtor's opinion, because the value needs to hold up. For contents, most households are ordinary furniture, dishes, and clothing, and a room-by-room description with photos is enough. Jewelry, coins, firearms, art, and anything a relative has ever called valuable deserve a closer look and possibly a separate appraisal.
Resist the pressure to let family "just take a few things" during this stage. It feels harmless and it is how disputes start. A clear statement that everything stays put until the inventory is done protects you and, frankly, protects the relationships.
Handling family expectations without becoming the villain
The will controls who gets what, and the executor carries it out. Personal belongings are where this gets hard, because most wills say something general like "my tangible personal property to my children in equal shares" and leave the piano, the Christmas ornaments, and the workbench to be sorted out by people who are grieving.
Set the process before the sorting starts. Tell everyone the same thing at the same time, ideally in writing: when the house will be open, how choices will be made, and what happens to items nobody claims. Taking turns, drawing numbers, or letting each person list their top requests in advance all work. What does not work is first come, first served, especially when one sibling lives in Cranberry and another lives in Denver.
Keep a written record of who took what. It does not need to be formal. A list with names and items, kept with your estate records, answers most later questions before they turn into arguments. If someone wants an item that has real value, talk to the attorney about whether it should count against their share.
Deciding what happens to the house itself
The will may say the house goes to a specific person, or it may simply fall into the general estate to be sold and divided. Read it carefully, then have the attorney confirm what it means. Whether the house is sold, transferred to an heir, or bought out by one sibling has legal and tax consequences, and those choices should be made with counsel, not around the kitchen table alone.
If the house is to be sold, the executor generally signs the listing agreement and the deed on behalf of the estate, once appointed. Timing matters. Many families want to move fast to stop the carrying costs, while others need to wait for appraisals or for the attorney to clear a step. Ask what has to happen before you can list, and do not accept an offer or sign anything until the attorney says the estate is in a position to sell.
Selling a longtime family home in this region often means dealing with a full basement, a garage, and decades of deferred maintenance. Clearing and light preparation usually make a real difference, but the executor should approve spending on the house as an estate expense, keep the receipts, and avoid major renovations without talking to the attorney and the other heirs.
Clearing the house in the right order
Once the inventory is complete and the attorney has confirmed you can distribute personal property, the house can be emptied. Do it in a sequence that keeps you protected. Family choices first, then items of value that will be sold, then donations, then disposal. Get receipts for everything that goes to a charity and keep a record of what went to the dump. Both belong in your estate file.
Paperwork deserves its own pass. Older homes around here tend to have a desk, a filing cabinet, and several shoeboxes of documents in a bedroom closet. Pull tax returns, bank statements, insurance policies, deeds, titles, and anything with an account number before the general clearing starts. The attorney may need them, and you cannot recover a shredded statement.
Plan for the physical reality. Narrow staircases, a full basement, and a detached garage mean multiple carloads and probably a dumpster or a hauling crew. If you live out of state or are working full time, this is the point where many executors bring in help. A company that coordinates sorting, donation runs, removal, and cleaning, such as Homeward Guide Co., can handle the physical side while you handle the legal and financial side, and it gives you one point of contact instead of six.
Protecting yourself as executor
You are acting for other people, and you can be held responsible if the estate loses value through carelessness. That sounds heavier than it is. In practice it comes down to a handful of habits: keep the house insured and secured, do not mix estate money with your own, document decisions, treat every heir the same, and ask the attorney before doing anything irreversible with the property.
Communicate more than feels necessary. A short email to all heirs every few weeks, saying where things stand, prevents most of the suspicion that grows in silence. Include what has been spent on the house and why.
Finally, know that you do not have to do the physical work yourself. Executors are allowed to hire help and pay for it from the estate as a reasonable expense. Whether that is a hauler, a cleaner, or a coordinator like Homeward Guide Co. handling the whole clearing process, hiring out the labor is often the responsible choice when the alternative is a house sitting empty and insured under a vacant policy for another season. Keep the invoices, tell the heirs, and get the house to its next chapter.
Common questions
- Can an executor sell a house before probate is complete?
- Generally the executor needs to be formally appointed by the Register of Wills before signing a listing agreement or a deed, and the estate attorney may want other steps finished first. The sale itself usually happens while the estate is still open, not after it closes. Ask your attorney exactly what must be done before you can accept an offer.
- Who pays the mortgage and utilities on a house in probate?
- The estate pays them, usually from an estate bank account opened after the executor is appointed. If you have to cover costs personally before that account exists, keep every receipt so you can be reimbursed. Confirm with the attorney how and when reimbursement works.
- Can family members take items from the house before the estate is settled?
- They should not until the executor has completed an inventory and the attorney has confirmed personal property can be distributed. Letting people take things early creates disputes and can cause problems with inheritance tax reporting. Set one clear process for everyone and write down who took what.
- What happens to homeowner's insurance when the owner dies and the house is empty?
- Many standard policies change or lapse when a home is unoccupied, so call the insurer right away and tell them the situation. You may need a vacant property endorsement or a new policy in the estate's name. Losing coverage on the house is one of the most serious executor mistakes.
- Can an executor hire a company to clear out the house?
- Yes. Reasonable costs of securing, maintaining, clearing, and preparing the property are typically paid by the estate as administration expenses. Keep the invoices, let the heirs know, and check with your attorney if the amount is significant.
