Skip to main content
Selling Inherited Property in Delaware
Support GuideDelaware36 min read

Selling Inherited Property in Delaware

Selling inherited Delaware property: who signs the deed, when the Court of Chancery must order the sale, and what recording and tax take.

By Settled Editorial

Delaware real estate does not land in the executor's hands the way a bank account does. It passes at death to the heirs or devisees, so the first question in any sale is which document gives the signer authority: a deed the people who inherited sign themselves, a power of sale written into the will, or an order from the Court of Chancery.

Two money facts frame the deal before you list. Delaware charges no estate tax and no inheritance tax, so there is no state death tax to clear at settlement. And the house takes a new federal cost basis equal to its date of death value, which on a sale close to the death can shrink the capital gains bill to almost nothing.

What Delaware does charge sits at the closing table rather than at the courthouse: a realty transfer tax that reaches 4 percent of the price once a local jurisdiction adds its own share, a county recording fee that stacks three ways, and a 6.6 percent estimated income tax a nonresident seller pays before the Recorder of Deeds will take the deed. This page walks all of it in order. If you are still working out whether an estate has to be opened at all, start with the Delaware probate process.

Four Ways to Get Authority to Sign

Probate in Delaware runs through the Register of Wills of the county where the decedent lived. There is no probate court, and for a real estate sale the court that matters is the Court of Chancery. Which document lets you sign depends on how the property was titled and what the will says.

The heirs or devisees, signing for themselves. This is the ordinary Delaware answer and it surprises people who have settled an estate elsewhere. 12 Del. C. § 1901(a) sets out what becomes an asset of the estate and includes chattels, money, stock, estates for the life of another, estates for years and growing crops. A fee simple house is absent from that list. 12 Del. C. § 1902(b) then says it outright: nothing in the rents and profits section gives the executor or administrator any right of possession of the real estate, though a representative who is in possession has to keep the premises in tenantable repair out of those rents. Under a will, the devisee holds. Without one, 12 Del. C. § 501 passes the real estate to the heirs, and 12 Del. C. § 503(b) makes two or more of them tenants in common. They sign the deed.

An executor using a power of sale in the will. Where the will grants that power, no Chancery order is needed to use it. 12 Del. C. § 2719 exists to keep the power from failing on a technicality: subsection (a) makes authority given to several executors survive the death of one, subsection (b) lets whoever has the execution of the will sell where the will devises land to be sold but names nobody to sell it, and subsection (d) passes the authority along where the named executor dies, is removed, renounces, is incapable or will not give bond. Subsection (e) protects the buyer, who takes free of any liability for how the purchase money is applied. Read the will before you assume a hearing is coming.

A personal representative under a Court of Chancery order to sell lands. 12 Del. C. ch. 27 is the route, and its opening words are the limit on it. Section 2701(a) allows the petition when the personal estate of a decedent is not sufficient to pay the decedent's debts, and § 2704 lets the court order a sale only if it appears there is such a deficiency, with no more land sold than the court deems sufficient. This is a debt driven sale, not a convenience. A Delaware executor who simply wants the house sold, with cash in the estate to pay everyone, is not describing a chapter 27 case.

A survivor or a transfer on death beneficiary. A surviving joint tenant or a spouse holding by the entireties already owns the land. A beneficiary named on a recorded transfer on death deed does too: Delaware adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act at 25 Del. C. ch. 2, in force for a transferor dying on or after December 4, 2025. Read 25 Del. C. § 213(b) before you count the proceeds, because that beneficiary takes subject to every conveyance, encumbrance, assignment, contract, mortgage, lien and other interest the property was subject to at the transferor's death. Our guide to avoiding probate in Delaware covers how those deeds are made and revoked.

One route does not reach a house at all. 12 Del. C. § 2306(a)(6) conditions the small estate affidavit on the decedent having owned no real estate in Delaware, either solely or as tenants in common. A building lot worth $9,000 shuts that route as completely as a $600,000 beach house. The Delaware small estate affidavit guide has the rest of its conditions.

Do you need probate in Delaware?

Answer a few questions to see whether Delaware probate is required and which process applies.

Take the 2-minute assessment

The Chancery Sale to Pay Debts, Step by Step

Where the personal estate cannot cover the debts and no will power of sale exists, the sale runs through chapter 27 in the Court of Chancery of the county where the land sits. Section 2701(c) lets a decedent with land in more than one county petition in any of them, has the court certify and record the relevant part of the proceedings in the other county, and still requires the sale itself to be conducted in the county where that land is located.

  1. Petition (12 Del. C. § 2701(a)). The executor or administrator presents a petition to the Court of Chancery outlining the deficiency and asking for an order to sell the whole or a part.
  2. Ten days of written notice (§ 2701(b)). Notice of the intention to present the petition, with the day and place, goes to the parties interested at least 10 days ahead, to the guardians of any minors who have them, and also to the tenants in possession of the premises intended to be sold. Where a party or guardian lives outside Delaware, the court prescribes publication or service by general rule or a specific direction.
  3. Proof (§ 2703). The representative exhibits to the court, on oath, a true account of all the personal estate and of every outstanding debt that has come to the representative's knowledge, along with the inventory, list and statement filed under 12 Del. C. § 1905 or certified copies of them.
  4. The order (§ 2704). If a deficiency appears, the court orders the sale of the land specified. It sells no more than it considers sufficient, unless a partial sale would injure the whole.
  5. Bond first (§ 2713). Before executing the order the representative enters into bond in the Court of Chancery, with one or more sufficient sureties the court approves, in a penal sum the court sets, conditioned on accounting truly for the money and applying it in the right order.
  6. The sale (§ 2706). Every sale under the chapter is by public auction or by private sale with the approval of the Court of Chancery. For an auction, the Clerk makes and signs advertisements describing the land and appointing the day, hour and place, posted at least 10 days before the sale at the places the order specifies. The representative may adjourn the sale.
  7. Return, approval and deed (§ 2708). The representative returns the proceedings to the court, and only if the return is approved does the deed go to the purchaser. Subsection (e) is the hard stop: the court shall not order a deed to be made in any case unless the purchase money is first paid.

Two provisions decide what your buyer is actually getting. 12 Del. C. § 2709 gives the grantee everything the decedent had at death, at law or in equity, paramount to the rights of the devisees or heirs and discharged from the lien of all judgments against the decedent and from mortgages and recognizances entered into for the absolute payment of money or interest. It stops short of recognizances or mortgages carrying some other condition, and of obligations securing official duties, so a title search still has work to do. Section 2710 then applies the purchase money to first class liens by legal priority and to other debts in the order set by 12 Del. C. § 2105, and § 2711 sends any surplus to whoever owned the premises at the time of the sale, in the same proportion.

Two more rules belong on a checklist. Section 2716 has all the charges of the sale, whether called commissions or anything else, taxed by the Court of Chancery and paid to the Clerk before the sale is approved, and says no other charges shall be allowed on account of the sale or of receiving or paying the purchase money. Talk to a Delaware attorney about a listing agreement before you sign one. And section 2717 lets the court refuse an order, or refuse to approve a completed sale, where the circumstances make it improper, even though the deficiency is proved and the sale was regularly conducted. The rest of the fiduciary's job sits in our Delaware executor duties guide.

Four Filings the Register of Wills Expects

Delaware attaches a set of real estate filings to the Register of Wills rather than to the Recorder of Deeds, and a seller who has skipped them meets them at settlement.

  • A certified death certificate, in the county where the land is (12 Del. C. § 2309). In all cases where the decedent owned an interest in real property, a certified copy of the death certificate is filed with the Register of Wills for the county where that interest is situated.
  • The inventory, within 3 months of letters (§ 1905(a)). It is filed with the Register of Wills where letters were granted, and a copy goes to the Register of Wills of any county where the decedent owned real estate. It has to carry a general description of every Delaware parcel the decedent died seized of, or that transferred by a transfer on death deed under 25 Del. C. ch. 2, including the parcel identification number, plus the name and relationship of every party entitled to an interest. Section 1912 records that statement in the Inheritance and Succession Docket.
  • The joint property affidavit, within 3 months of the death (§ 1905(e)). Where real property passes by joint ownership with right of survivorship or by tenancy by the entireties, the personal representative or the surviving joint tenant files an affidavit with the Register of Wills of the county where the property is located describing the real estate and naming the surviving owner. This one runs from the death, not from letters, and it applies where no estate is opened at all. The same subsection says the filer need not produce a certified or exemplified copy from the decedent's home jurisdiction to get the decedent off the title.
  • The no return affidavit (12 Del. C. § 2304(b)). Where no return is required under 30 Del. C. ch. 15, and either real property passed by survivorship or by the entireties, or letters were granted and the decedent owned real property, the personal representative files an affidavit in a form the Director of Revenue approves with the Register of Wills of each county where the real property is located. All three counties still charge for it, and Sussex still calls its version a No Delaware Inheritance Tax Due Affidavit.

Section 1905(d) adds one more, for a contested estate: where any action affecting title to Delaware real estate is brought, by caveat, petition for review, petition for instructions or otherwise, the representative files notice of the pendency of that action within 10 days with the Register of Wills of any county where the decedent owned real estate other than the county where letters were granted. Once the state surface is live, Delaware property transfers after death will carry the mechanical title steps alongside these.

Advertisement

The Creditor Clock, and the Lien That Outlives It

Delaware runs one main clock and it starts at the death. 12 Del. C. § 2102(a) bars claims that arose before or at the death unless they are presented within 8 months of the decedent's death, whether or not the Register of Wills gave the § 2101 notice, and the bar runs in favor of the estate, the personal representative and the heirs and devisees. Section 2102(e)(1) closes the same window on a deficiency claim under a bond secured by a mortgage, while subsection (e)(2) preserves the mortgage itself for foreclosure. Claims that arise after the death get 6 months under § 2102(b), and a rejected claim dies 3 months after written notice of the rejection under § 2102(c). Our Delaware creditor claims guide walks the notice mechanics, and the Delaware probate timeline shows where those 8 months sit in the case.

A transfer on death deed does not escape the same window. 25 Del. C. § 215(a) lets the estate enforce an allowed claim or a statutory allowance against property that passed by such a deed to the extent the probate estate cannot satisfy it, and § 215(c) says the proceeding to do that must start no later than 8 months after the transferor's death.

One claim can reach past all of that and follow the house, because it is recorded against the land. Delaware's Medicaid estate recovery statute sits at 25 Del. C. ch. 50. Section 5002(a) creates a lien against all real property of an individual who is 55 or older when receiving services in a long term care facility paid for by the Department of Health and Social Services, imposed before death, and only after notice and an opportunity for a hearing establishing that the person cannot reasonably be expected to return home. Section 5002(c) attaches it on the recording of a notice of lien at the Recorder of Deeds office in the county where the property sits, and § 5002(e) dissolves it if the person is discharged and returns home. Section 5003 then has the Department seek recovery from the estate or upon sale of property subject to a lien.

Three protections limit it. Section 5002(b) blocks a lien on the home while a spouse, a child under 21 or blind or permanently and totally disabled, or a sibling with an equity interest who lived there for at least a year before the admission, is lawfully residing there. Section 5003(1) allows recovery only after the death of the individual and of a surviving spouse who was residing in the home continuously. Section 5003(2) blocks it while a blind or disabled child, a caregiving nondisabled child or sibling who meets the two year test, or a minor child, is living in the home. Section 5005 requires an undue hardship waiver procedure. Order the title work early, and if the person who died spent time in long term care after age 55, ask the Department before you spend the proceeds.

Recording the Deed, and What Each County Charges

Delaware records at the county Recorder of Deeds, and three rules from 25 Del. C. ch. 1 shape the document. Section 152 makes recording effective only as to land in that county, so a two county estate records twice. Section 153 gives a deed priority from the time it is recorded, without respect to when it was signed, sealed and delivered, which is why a same day recording matters. And section 133 requires whoever leaves a deed for record to place the grantee's address on it or attach it.

The fees are additive in all three counties, and reading only the per page line understates a one page deed by $30 to $36.

CountyWhat the schedule charges on a deedOne page, one parcelSchedule effective
New Castle$30 State document fee plus $5 technology fee, then $13 per page and $3 for each parcel description listed$51Revised 1/28/20
Kent$36 document fee, made of $30 State, $1 County and $5 technology, then $10 per page including the first and $5 per tax parcel$51October 28, 2025, KCROD-12.0
Sussex$30 document surcharge plus $1 maintenance fee, then $9 per page$40July 1, 2024

Formatting has a price too. Kent charges $40 for a non conforming document and $20 for a rejection, Sussex charges $30 for a document that does not meet its Standards for Recording, and New Castle publishes neither figure. Kent is also the only Delaware county that prices a transfer on death deed on its own line, at $88 for the first 5 pages and $10 for each additional page, which tells you the office has already absorbed the 2025 act. Read the county's recording standards before closing day, because a deed handed back at the counter can move a settlement date.

The Realty Transfer Tax

30 Del. C. § 5402(a) imposes the tax on the person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts or presents a document for recording, at 3 percent of the value of the property, dropping to 2.5 percent where the municipality or county has enacted the full 1.5 percent local realty transfer tax authorized by 22 Del. C. § 1601 or 9 Del. C. § 8102. The same sentence says the tax is apportioned equally between grantor and grantee. 30 Del. C. § 5412 adds that as between the parties, absent an agreement to the contrary, the burden falls on the grantor.

The Kent County Recorder of Deeds publishes the split for all 21 taxing codes in that county, and every line adds to 4 percent: most read 1.5 local plus 2.5 state, while Hartly, Kenton and Woodside read 1 local plus 3 state. Confirm the code for your parcel with the Recorder of Deeds where the land sits rather than assuming a neighboring town's rate.

Three provisions matter to an inherited sale. Section 5401(1)a. excludes a will and a transfer on death deed authorized under 25 Del. C. ch. 2 from the definition of a document altogether, which is why § 5402(g) also relieves a transfer on death deed of the § 5409 transfer tax affidavit and of the estimated income tax form. Paragraph (1) carries a long list of other excluded conveyances, including transfers between spouses at (1)g., between parent and child or that child's spouse at (1)i., between siblings, half siblings and step siblings at (1)w., and between grandparent and grandchild or that grandchild's spouse at (1)aa. And section 5409 requires every document to state its true, full and complete value or to arrive with an affidavit stating that value and the reason the document is not taxable, so an exclusion has to be claimed on the paperwork rather than argued at the window. On a court ordered sale, § 5404 makes the transfer tax the first thing paid out of the proceeds of a judicial sale.

Section 5401(4) defines value in a way worth reading before a family sale. Where a transfer is for less than the highest appraised value for local property tax purposes, value means that appraised figure unless a party shows fair market value is lower, in which case value is fair market value or the actual consideration, whichever is greater. Showing the deal was at arm's length between unrelated parties is enough to establish fair market value.

Advertisement

The Withholding a Nonresident Seller Does Not See Coming

Delaware collects income tax on the gain at the Recorder's counter. 30 Del. C. § 1126(b) requires every nonresident individual who sells or exchanges Delaware real estate to file a declaration of estimated income tax with the Recorder, calculated at the highest marginal rate under 30 Del. C. § 1102 either on the estimated gain or, on the alternative form, on the difference between the total amount realized and the net balance of recorded liens at settlement. Section 1126(c) is the part that stops a closing: the form and the estimated tax must be remitted with the deed to the Recorder before the deed is recorded, and the payment is withheld from the net proceeds. Where the sale leaves no net proceeds, the Recorder may accept the form without payment on the closing attorney's confirmation that no funds were available and none went to the seller.

The Division of Revenue publishes the form as REW-EST, and its instructions apply 6.6 percent for everyone other than a C corporation, which pays 8.7 percent. Part 2 of the form has the transferor identify itself, and the choices include a corporation, trust or estate, so a nonresident estate selling Delaware land is inside the same machinery. Two provisions take the sting out. Section 1126(d) credits the payment to the nonresident transferor as an estimated tax payment made on the date it reached the Recorder, and section 1126(f)(1) says the section imposes no tax at all, which makes the payment a prepayment rather than a cost. Section 1126(e) also keeps the buyer, the title insurer, the settlement agent, the closing attorney, the lender and the agent off the hook for the money.

A seller who owes nothing still files. Part 5 of REW-EST is the declaration a resident individual, or a seller whose gain is exempt or excluded from recognition, uses to say no payment is due, and a claim of exemption has to name the Internal Revenue Code provision relied on. Where the decedent lived outside Delaware and left a house here, you will also need a Delaware proceeding to reach the land, which our guide to Delaware ancillary probate covers.

What the Sale Costs in Tax

Delaware takes no death tax. 30 Del. C. ch. 13 is captioned "Inheritance [Repealed]" and 30 Del. C. ch. 15 is captioned "Estate Tax [Repealed]", with every section of chapter 15 carrying the inline history "repealed by 81 Del. Laws, c. 52, § 1, effective Jan. 1, 2018". What survives the repeal is the § 2304(b) affidavit described above, not a tax.

The federal basis reset does the heavy lifting. Under 26 U.S.C. 1014(a) the basis of property acquired from a decedent is generally the fair market value at the date of death, or the value on the alternate valuation date where the estate elects 26 U.S.C. 2032. Gain is measured from that number, not from what the decedent paid decades ago. Get a written date of death appraisal even where no court requires one, because that document is the evidence behind the basis you report. The step-up in basis in Delaware guide works through the number itself, so this page does not restate it.

Holding period is not a problem. 26 U.S.C. 1223(9) treats property whose basis comes from § 1014 as held for more than one year, so an heir who sells three months after the death still reports a long term gain.

Delaware taxes what is left at ordinary rates. There is no separate Delaware capital gains rate. A gain flows into Delaware taxable income and is taxed on the schedule at 30 Del. C. § 1102(a)(14), which for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2013 tops out at 6.6 percent of taxable income over $60,000. A nonresident computes the tax under 30 Del. C. § 1121 as though a resident, then multiplies by the ratio of modified Delaware source income to Delaware adjusted gross income. Delaware land is Delaware source income, which is what the REW-EST payment is prepaying.

Living in the house changes the math. 26 U.S.C. 121(a) excludes gain on a home the taxpayer owned and used as a principal residence for periods totaling two years or more during the five years ending on the sale date, capped at $250,000 under subsection (b)(1) and $500,000 on a qualifying joint return. An heir who moves into an inherited Delaware house and stays can reach that exclusion later, on top of the basis reset. Run the numbers with a tax professional before deciding to hold.

When One Heir Will Not Sell

Delaware co-owners use the ordinary partition statute in the Court of Chancery, 25 Del. C. §§ 721 to 751, and it moves in a fixed order.

Section 721(a) lets any one or more joint tenants, tenants in common or parceners of lawful age petition the Court of Chancery of the county where the land sits. Section 721(b) issues a summons in partition to the interested parties who did not join, returnable no less than 20 days out, requiring them to show cause why partition should not be made. Where every interested person of lawful age petitions together, § 728 skips the summons entirely and the court decrees partition straight away.

Section 724 is where the case turns. If nobody shows sufficient cause, the court decrees partition, states the shares, and may issue a commission to 3 freeholders of the county, sworn, who go on the premises and make a just and fair partition in the stated proportions, with a survey where land is divided. The same commission directs that if a partition would be detrimental to the interests of the parties entitled, the commissioners make no partition and instead appraise the whole of the premises at its true value in money. A majority of the commissioners can act.

If no partition is made, § 729 has the court order a sale by a trustee appointed for the purpose, at public vendue to the highest bidder, on the notice the order prescribes. The deed issues after the court approves the sale and the purchase money is paid into court or secured. Section 732 passes the buyer all the estate and interest of the co-owners, free and discharged from liens on any co-owner's share, and moves those liens to that owner's share of the proceeds. Section 733 invests or divides the proceeds according to the parties' interests. Section 735 taxes the costs and pays them from the proceeds or by the parties according to their interests. And § 730 offers a middle path: where the land can be divided among primary interests but not among every individual owner, the commissioners can allot by primary interest, and a group representing an entire primary interest can ask the court to take that share in kind while the residue is sold.

One Delaware rule stops a partition before it starts, and intestacy creates it constantly. 12 Del. C. § 502 gives a surviving spouse a life estate in the intestate real estate in three of its four cases, with the children taking the remainder as tenants in common under § 503. 25 Del. C. § 737 then says that where there is a life estate covering the property rather than one undivided share, partition shall not be made until that life estate ends, unless the life tenant joins in the petition with one or more of the other parties entitled, in which case partition can be made subject to the life tenant's rights. A frustrated remainderman cannot force a sale over a widow's objection. Our Delaware intestate succession guide sets out who takes what.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an executor sell a house in Delaware?

Only with authority from somewhere specific, because Delaware real estate does not sit in the executor's hands by default. 12 Del. C. § 1901(a) lists what counts as estate assets and fee simple real estate is not on the list, and 12 Del. C. § 1902(b) says plainly that nothing in that section gives the executor or administrator any right of possession of the real estate. Three things can supply the authority. A power of sale written into the will, which 12 Del. C. § 2719 backs up by keeping that power alive when one of several executors dies or a named executor drops out. An order from the Court of Chancery under 12 Del. C. ch. 27, available when the personal estate is not sufficient to pay the decedent's debts. Or nothing at all, because the heirs or devisees who already hold title sign the deed themselves.

Do you need a court order to sell inherited property in Delaware?

Not usually, and the reason is that the people who inherited the land can convey it. Delaware title passes at death, so a devisee under a probated will or an heir under 12 Del. C. § 501 can sign a deed once the estate paperwork supports the chain of title. The court order becomes necessary when a personal representative has to sell the land to pay debts. 12 Del. C. § 2701(a) opens that route only when the personal estate of a decedent is not sufficient to pay the decedent's debts, and § 2704 lets the Court of Chancery order a sale only if it appears there is such a deficiency. A creditor can force the question under § 2702.

What is the Delaware realty transfer tax on an inherited home?

30 Del. C. § 5402(a) sets a 3 percent state rate on the value of the property, dropping to 2.5 percent where the county or municipality has enacted the full 1.5 percent local tax authorized by 22 Del. C. § 1601 or 9 Del. C. § 8102. The Kent County Recorder of Deeds publishes the split for all 21 taxing codes in that county, and every line adds to 4 percent total, either 1.5 local plus 2.5 state or 1 local plus 3 state. Section 5402(a) says the tax is apportioned equally between grantor and grantee, and 30 Del. C. § 5412 puts the burden on the grantor as between the parties absent an agreement to the contrary. Confirm the local code with the Recorder of Deeds where the property sits.

Does Delaware withhold tax when an out-of-state heir sells a house?

Yes, at settlement. 30 Del. C. § 1126(b) requires every nonresident individual who sells Delaware real estate to file a declaration of estimated income tax with the Recorder, and § 1126(c) says the form and the estimated tax must be remitted with the deed before the deed is recorded, withheld from the net proceeds. The Division of Revenue publishes the form as REW-EST, and its instructions apply 6.6 percent to the gain for everyone other than a C corporation. Two things soften it. Section 1126(f) says the section imposes no tax, so the payment is a prepayment credited to the seller under § 1126(d). And Part 5 of the form is a declaration a resident seller, or a seller whose gain is excluded, uses to say no payment is due.

Do you pay capital gains tax on an inherited Delaware home?

Often very little, because the basis resets. Under 26 U.S.C. 1014(a) the basis of property acquired from a decedent is generally its fair market value on the date of death, or the alternate valuation date where the estate elects 26 U.S.C. 2032, so the gain is measured from that number rather than from what the decedent paid. 26 U.S.C. 1223(9) treats property that takes a § 1014 basis as held for more than one year, so the gain is long term even on a fast sale. Delaware adds no separate capital gains rate. A taxable gain runs through the Delaware personal income tax, whose top bracket under 30 Del. C. § 1102(a)(14) is 6.6 percent of taxable income over $60,000. Have a tax professional check your numbers before you file.

Can a Delaware small estate affidavit transfer a house?

No, and the value of the house is beside the point. 12 Del. C. § 2306(a)(6) makes it a condition of the affidavit that the decedent did not own real estate in Delaware, either solely or as tenants in common. That is a disqualifier rather than a subtraction, so a $9,000 building lot closes the route as completely as a beach house. Where real property passed instead by joint ownership with right of survivorship or by tenancy by the entireties, 12 Del. C. § 1905(e) requires the surviving joint tenant or the personal representative to file an affidavit describing the real estate with the Register of Wills of the county where it sits within 3 months of the death, even where nobody opens an estate.

What happens when one Delaware heir refuses to sell?

A co-owner petitions the Court of Chancery for partition under 25 Del. C. § 721. The court decrees partition and appoints 3 freeholders as commissioners, who go on the land and divide it, or, where dividing it would be detrimental to the parties entitled, appraise the whole and report instead (25 Del. C. § 724). If no partition is made, § 729 has the court appoint a trustee to sell at public vendue to the highest bidder, and § 732 passes the buyer a title free of the liens on any co-owner's share, with those liens moving to the sale proceeds. Costs are taxed by the court under § 735. One Delaware wrinkle stops the whole thing: where a life estate covers the property rather than one undivided share, § 737 says partition shall not be made until that life estate ends, unless the life tenant joins in the petition.

Related Guides

This page describes Delaware law broadly rather than advising on one estate. Recording standards, fee schedules and settlement practice differ between the three counties, and every statutory figure here was read at the Delaware Code Online and at the county source on September 10, 2026. Confirm the recording fee and the local transfer tax code with the Recorder of Deeds where the property sits, check your basis and the year's rates with a tax professional, and take a Chancery sale, a Medicaid lien or a partition fight to a licensed Delaware attorney.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of September 10, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Delaware can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

All Delaware guides← Back to all articles

More Delaware Resources

Explore the rest of the Delaware probate hub.

Do I need probate?5 pages
For the executor4 pages
Money and taxes5 pages
Family and inheritance5 pages
Transfer assets4 pages
File and learn5 pages