Selling a parent’s home in The Villages: during their lifetime, after a move to care, or after they pass.

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Which situation is your family in?

1. Your parent is living and able to sign
2. Your parent is living but can’t manage the sale
3. The home is held in a trust
4. Your parent has died
5. The home was their Florida homestead

1. Your parent is living and able to sign

This is the simplest path, even after a move to assisted living or closer to family. The owner signs the listing agreement and the deed. A Florida deed needs two witnesses, who may take part by audio-video technology under the statute’s rules, so a remote closing may be possible if the title company agrees.

Check two things early. HUD says a reverse mortgage (HECM) becomes due when the borrower sells, no longer lives in the home as a primary residence, or the last surviving borrower dies (special rules can protect an eligible non-borrowing spouse), so call the servicer. And IRS Publication 523 can, when its conditions are met, count time in a licensed care facility toward the home-sale exclusion’s use test; ask a CPA.

Downsizing in The Villages → · Planning a parent’s move to care and home sale →

2. Your parent is living but can’t manage the sale

Family agreement is not enough; someone needs legal authority.

Durable power of attorney

Under Florida law, a power of attorney is durable if it says the authority continues even if your parent loses capacity (documents signed in other states can follow other rules), and the agent can use only authority it specifically grants. The agent cannot convey a married parent’s homestead without the spouse joining (or the spouse’s guardian, or an agent acting under the spouse’s own power of attorney); a Florida attorney confirms who must sign. Title may ask the agent for an affidavit that your parent is living and the power has not been revoked or suspended. Filing a petition to determine incapacity can suspend the power, though not automatically when the agent is your parent’s spouse, child, parent, or grandchild.

Guardianship

Without a usable power of attorney, a guardianship may be needed. The Florida Bar notes that Florida law requires the least restrictive alternative to guardianship. Under Florida Statutes §744.441, a guardian of the property may sell real property, including homestead, only after the court approves a petition for authorization; a Florida elder-law attorney handles that petition.

Can a power of attorney sell a house in Florida? →

3. The home is held in a trust

If the home was deeded into a revocable trust, the trustee sells it. When your parent can no longer serve or has died, the successor trustee named in the trust steps in. A trustee may sell trust property and can give the title company a certification of trust instead of the whole document. A trust does not avoid Florida’s homestead limits on who can inherit.

Selling a house held in a trust →

4. Your parent has died

A power of attorney ends at death. What happens next depends on how the deed was held.

Lady Bird deed

The home passes at death to the named remainder beneficiaries without probate, subject to the homestead limits in situation 5. A Florida Bar Journal article notes there is no established statutory form, so wording matters, and that all remainder beneficiaries must join a later sale. Lady Bird deeds →

Joint ownership

A home owned as tenants by the entirety goes to the surviving spouse. Other co-owners have survivorship only if the deed says so expressly; otherwise your parent’s share passes through the estate.

Trust

The successor trustee sells.

Probate

A home in your parent’s name alone usually needs probate. If your parent was a Florida resident, it is opened in the county where they lived; if they lived in another state, a Florida ancillary case is usually opened in the county where the home is (Villages homes sit in Sumter, Lake, or Marion County). Your attorney confirms which. Summary administration may be available when the will (if any) does not require formal administration and the Florida estate, less exempt property, is $150,000 or less, or your parent died more than two years ago. The petitioner must first make a diligent search for creditors. The $150,000 limit took effect July 1, 2026 (older guides say $75,000); ask a Florida probate attorney whether it applies to your case. In formal administration, the court appoints a personal representative, who can sell under a will’s power of sale or with the court’s authorization or confirmation. The Florida Bar says a simple estate takes about five or six months.

Probate real estate → · Summary administration →

Mortgage: once most mortgage servicers learn a borrower has died, federal rules (Regulation X) require them to promptly communicate with potential successors and describe the documents they need. Small servicers and reverse mortgages are exempt from this rule, so ask the servicer directly. For an FHA-insured HECM reverse mortgage, CFPB says heirs generally have 30 days after receiving a due-and-payable notice to buy, sell or turn over the home. An extension may be possible, but is not automatic. When the balance exceeds the home’s value, CFPB describes selling for at least 95% of its appraised value to satisfy the debt. Surviving co-borrowers and eligible nonborrowing spouses can have different protections. Ask the servicer for the applicable deadlines and requirements in writing, and consult a HUD-approved housing counselor or Florida attorney. Taxes: an heir’s basis is generally the home’s fair market value at death. Disclosure: Florida law says a death at the property is not a material fact that must be disclosed. That covers only the fact of the death. Known problems with the home that materially affect its value and are not readily observable still need to be disclosed; ask your attorney if anything about the home’s condition is in question.

Death in the home → · Inherited homes → · Mortgage after a death → · Villages bills and accounts after an owner dies →

5. When the home was their Florida homestead

If your parent was survived by a spouse or minor child, the Florida Constitution says the homestead cannot be left by will, except to the spouse when there is no minor child. If it was not validly left and your parent left a spouse and descendants, the spouse generally takes a life estate and the descendants the remainder, unless the spouse elects a one-half share within six months of the death. A prenuptial or other waiver can change this, so a Florida probate attorney should confirm. The personal representative does not hold protected homestead to pay estate debts. More people may need to sign than the will suggests; your attorney decides who, and Mo shares the same pricing with all of them. Homestead inheritance rules →

THE VILLAGES SPECIFICALLY

Local details that affect the plan

1. Fees continue while the home is empty.The District says sanitation, amenity, water and sewer, and irrigation fees are charged year-round whether or not the home is occupied.
2. The bond and amenity fee are separate.Check both for the address before pricing. Bond · Amenity fee
3. House checks.For residents away more than seven days, the District’s Community Watch offers exterior checks three times a week for $6.42 per week.
4. Bulk pick-up.Arrange bulk pickup before placing items outside. Confirm the provider, current charges and item limits for the property’s address using the District’s bulk-pickup instructions.
5. County.The District lists District 1 in Sumter County, District 4 in Marion County, and its Lady Lake/Lake County portion in Lake County. For a Florida resident, probate is usually filed in the county where they lived; your attorney confirms the county.

IN EVERY SITUATION

What Mo does for families

1. ValueA written price range from recent closings and an estimated net. Net sheet
2. PreparationAs-is versus light preparation, with costs shown first. Selling as-is
3. Cleanout coordinationKeepsakes and documents first, then vendors the family approves in writing. Estate cleanout planning
4. Remote updatesPhotos, feedback, and offers in writing. Example of remote selling (not an estate or probate sale): Mo sold 40140 Palm St, Lady Lake, listed at $299,999, for $307,000 on July 22, 2026 for a seller who lived out of state. Case study · Sale record · Selling from out of state
5. Working with your attorneyMo confirms the signer with the attorney and title company before anything is signed. How Mo markets a home

Tell me about the home

Share the address and what’s happening, and I’ll get back to you, usually the same day. If you don’t know yet who can sign, that’s fine. Say so in the notes and we’ll start there.