Selling an Inherited House in Pensacola: How Escambia County Probate Works

To sell an inherited house in Pensacola, someone usually needs authority from the Escambia County probate court first. Since July 1, 2026, summary administration covers Florida estates worth up to $150,000 after exempt property (Fla. Stat. § 735.201), twice the old limit.

Escambia County probate runs through the First Judicial Circuit, which serves Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties. This guide is for heirs to a parent's house in North Hill, Old East Hill, East Hill, or elsewhere in the city, including heirs who live far away. There's no rush to decide, and nothing here is legal advice. Our statewide guide to inherited Florida houses covers taxes and disagreements between heirs.

Do you need probate to sell an inherited house in Pensacola?

Usually yes: a Pensacola house titled only in the late owner's name needs a probate order or letters before anyone can deed it to a buyer. A house held by a couple as tenants by the entirety, or in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, is treated differently.

Florida's probate code says a house held either of those ways is not protected homestead (Fla. Stat. § 731.201(33)). The recorded deed is the first paper worth pulling, because it shows how title was held.

Where the case is filed

Venue follows where the parent lived, not where the house sits. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.101, probate opens in the Florida county where the decedent was domiciled. For a parent who lived in Pensacola, that is Escambia County, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court takes the filings.

A parent who lived in another state had no Florida domicile. That case can open in any Florida county where the parent owned property, which for a Pensacola house is again Escambia County.

City limits do not change the court

Cantonment, Ferry Pass, Brent, Myrtle Grove, and Pensacola Beach are unincorporated Escambia County, not the City of Pensacola. Permits and code cases follow different rules on each side of the city line. Probate does not, because one countywide circuit court serves both.

Which Escambia County probate path fits the estate?

Summary administration fits when the Florida estate, less property exempt from creditors, is $150,000 or less, or when the owner died more than 2 years ago. Larger or more tangled estates use formal administration, where the court appoints a personal representative.

The $150,000 figure is new. The House's final bill analysis says chapter 2026-57 raised the limit from estates not exceeding $75,000. The Florida Senate's bill page lists July 1, 2026 as the effective date (Florida Senate, November 2026). A guide or form written before then may still show $75,000.

Why a homestead may not count toward the limit

The test subtracts property exempt from creditors' claims. The Florida Constitution exempts a homestead from forced sale (Art. X, § 4), so a Pensacola house worth more than $150,000 may not, by itself, rule out the shorter path. A Florida probate attorney can say which of a parent's assets count.

What a summary order does

In a summary case, the court may enter an order allowing immediate distribution of the assets to the people entitled to them (Fla. Stat. § 735.206). Before that order, the petitioner must search for creditors and make provision to pay them. After it, a buyer for value from the people named takes the house free of the late owner's creditors' claims.

When does a Pensacola sale need a judge's approval?

In formal administration, a judge must approve the sale unless the will gives the personal representative a power of sale. With that power, the representative can sell without a court order.

Fla. Stat. § 733.613(2) covers a will with a specific power to sell real property, or a general power to sell any estate asset. Without one, or with no will at all, the representative can still sell when it serves the estate, with the court authorizing or confirming the sale. The statute then adds a firm condition:

"No title shall pass until the court authorizes or confirms the sale."

Fla. Stat. § 733.613(1), 2026 Florida Statutes

The wording ties the order to the passing of title, so a contract can come first and the closing waits for the judge. A buyer under a specific power to sell real property, or under a court order authorizing or confirming the sale, takes title free of estate creditors' claims. Existing mortgages and other liens on the house stay attached (§ 733.613(3)).

How does homestead status change who signs the deed?

If the Pensacola house was the parent's homestead and a spouse or minor child survives, the house generally cannot be left by will, except to the spouse when no minor child survives. Florida law then decides who owns it, and so who has to sign.

The rule comes from Article X, Section 4(c) of the Florida Constitution, repeated in Fla. Stat. § 732.4015. When the house was not devised as the law allows, § 732.401 gives a surviving spouse a life estate and the descendants a vested remainder. The spouse may instead elect an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common, with the other half going to the descendants.

Either way, the spouse and the children can end up as co-owners. A buyer typically needs every owner to sign the deed.

A court can settle the homestead question

Protected homestead sits outside the assets a personal representative uses to pay claims (Fla. Stat. § 733.608). If nobody with an interest lives there, the representative may take possession only to preserve, insure, and protect it, "pending a determination of its homestead status." The same section speaks of a house "determined by the court not to be protected homestead," so the court is where the question gets answered.

What happens to the Escambia County tax bill after the sale?

A sale usually resets the assessment to full market value, so a parent's Save Our Homes cap does not pass to the buyer. State law sets that reset for January 1 of the year after a change of ownership.

In the words of the Property Appraiser's Q&A, a house "sold or otherwise conveyed to new owner during a calendar year is raised to full market value according to law" (Escambia County Property Appraiser, November 2026). It adds that the cap, "just like the exemption," expires with a change in ownership. The new owner has to apply for a homestead exemption of their own.

Fla. Stat. § 193.155(3)(a) lists the transfers that do not count as a change of ownership. Those that matter most after a death include:

• a transfer to a surviving spouse;
• a transfer by operation of law to the spouse or minor children under § 732.401;
• a transfer at death to a permanent resident who was legally or naturally dependent on the owner.

When no deed is recorded

The Appraiser's Q&A also explains the 10% cap on houses without a homestead exemption, such as a rental a parent owned. If ownership or control changes and no deed is recorded with the clerk, the new owner must file Form DR-430 with the property appraiser within 60 days.

Can an heir who lives out of state handle a Pensacola sale?

Yes, in many cases: a close relative can serve as personal representative from another state, and a Florida online notary can notarize for a signer outside Florida. A trip to Pensacola may not be needed.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.304, a person not domiciled in Florida qualifies only through a family tie. The list covers:

• an adopted child or adoptive parent of the late owner;
• anyone related by lineal consanguinity, such as a child or grandchild;
• a spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece, or anyone in a direct line from one of them;
• the spouse of anyone who qualifies.

For signing, Fla. Stat. § 117.265 lets a Florida online notary notarize for a principal who is not physically in the state. The notarization is treated as performed in Florida. The papers below answer most of the questions a probate attorney or title company may raise first.

What should heirs know about an older North Hill or East Hill house?

Houses from North Hill's and Old East Hill's historic periods predate 1978 by decades, so a sale usually brings the federal lead-based paint disclosure. Inside the city limits, those preservation districts also fall under the city's Architectural Review Board.

The City of Pensacola's historic preservation page dates North Hill's period of significance to 1870-1910 and 1910-1930. It puts Old East Hill's at 1870-1920s, in mostly vernacular styles (City of Pensacola, November 2026). The Architectural Review Board approves or disapproves plans to renovate or raze buildings in those districts.

The EPA's disclosure rule requires sellers of most pre-1978 housing to share known lead-based paint information before a buyer signs. Buyers get a 10-day period for an inspection or risk assessment, which they may waive (EPA, November 2026). Our guide to selling a historic house in North Hill or East Hill covers the review process in more depth.

How can Propcash help with an inherited Pensacola house?

Propcash is a direct cash homebuyer, and we buy inherited houses as-is. Take what you want, leave the rest: no repairs, no cleaning, no cleanout. We make one cash offer based on local market data and show you how we got to our number, with no commissions or fees charged to you.

There's no rush to decide. The family and the estate's attorney can weigh our offer against listing or keeping the house, and you pick the closing date once the estate can sell. If a cash sale isn't your best move, we'll tell you. When you're ready, you can get a no-obligation cash offer or see how we buy houses on our Pensacola cash house buyer page.