Last updated October 18, 2026
Probate and inherited property, Lake Worth Beach
Who Handles Probate and Inherited Property Sales in Lake Worth?
What is different about selling an estate's home in Lake Worth Beach, what the personal representative can and cannot sign, and the one number the estate needs before anything is listed. Written for families and the attorneys who represent them.
See what the property is worth
A written opinion of value for the estate, from Gia Freer. Not legal or tax advice; we work alongside the estate's attorney.
Short answer: Yes — PBP Real Estate handles probate and inherited-property sales in Lake Worth and Lake Worth Beach, working alongside the estate’s attorney, and our Broker of Record Gia Freer has been licensed in Florida since 2000 and prepares the written date-of-death opinions of value that estates need for their filings.
Key takeaways
- Lake Worth Beach is an incorporated city; a much larger surrounding area of unincorporated Palm Beach County shares the Lake Worth mailing address.
- Of the sales with a Lake Worth address closed in the last twelve months, roughly four in five sat outside the city limits.
- Formal administration in Palm Beach County typically runs nine to eighteen months, while summary administration usually closes in one to three — and the summary threshold doubled to $150,000 of non-exempt value on July 1, 2026, which moved a lot of estates into the faster route.
Why does a Lake Worth address not tell you the jurisdiction?
“Lake Worth” is two different things. There is the City of Lake Worth Beach, which is an incorporated municipality, and there is a much larger surrounding area of unincorporated Palm Beach County that carries a Lake Worth mailing address. Our BeachesMLS feed treats them as separate cities, and the split is lopsided: of the sales with a Lake Worth address closed in the last twelve months, roughly four in five sat outside the city limits.
For a personal representative this is not trivia. Which authority the property answers to decides where you search for open permits and code enforcement liens, who has to sign off on unpermitted work a relative did decades ago, and which utility accounts have to be settled before closing. An estate that assumes “city” and searches the wrong records finds out at the title stage, which is the worst possible moment. We establish the jurisdiction in writing before the property is priced.
What is the Lake Worth real estate market like right now?
| Lake Worth, 2026 year to date | Single-family | Condominium / townhouse |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 379 | 403 |
| Median asking price | $635,000 | $179,999 |
| Closed sales, year to date | 1,068 | 516 |
| Median closed price, year to date | $560,000 | $207,500 |
| Median days on market to contract | 35 | 52 |
| Months of supply | 3.2 | 6.0 |
Based on information from BeachesMLS for January 1 to September 30, 2026, covering both the Lake Worth and Lake Worth Beach city designations, retrieved October 18, 2026. Listings permitted for internet display only. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Read those two columns as two separate markets, because that is what they are. A Lake Worth house is selling in a tight market — 3.2 months of supply and a median of 35 days to contract. A Lake Worth condominium or townhouse is selling in a slow one: 6.0 months of supply and 52 days to contract, and that is before an association’s approval process is added on top. If the estate holds a condominium, the beneficiaries should be planning for a materially longer sale than a neighbor with a house, and the carrying costs should be budgeted accordingly.
We publish these figures because an estate pays insurance, taxes, association dues and maintenance for every one of those days, and that cost comes out of what the beneficiaries receive.
What kind of property value document does an estate need?
Estates usually need value as at the date of death, not value today. That is a different document: comparable closings are drawn from the six to twelve months before the date of death, and later sales are not used simply because they exist now. We state the effective date of value on the face of the document so the historical cut-off can never be mistaken for the preparation date. Your attorney and your CPA will both want it in that form.
No automated estimate is published on this site, and no price we give an estate is produced by software.
How do you work with an estate during a sale?
- Confirm who has authority to sign. Usually the personal representative appointed by the court. Nothing can be listed before that exists.
- Establish the jurisdiction — City of Lake Worth Beach or unincorporated Palm Beach County — and search permits, liens and code enforcement in the right place.
- Written date-of-death opinion of value for the estate file.
- An honest condition and repair assessment. Most inherited properties here do not need a renovation; they need clearing, cleaning, and two or three specific repairs. We will tell you which, and which are not worth doing.
- Coordination with the attorney on court authority, beneficiary consents and timing.
- A real launch, and weekly reporting to every beneficiary who wants it, so nobody is left guessing.
Once the court authority is in place, the sale follows the same disciplined process we use for every seller in Palm Beach County. You can read exactly how we prepare, price and market a home for sale before you commit the estate to anything.
How long does the probate process take to finish?
Formal administration in Palm Beach County typically runs nine to eighteen months, while summary administration usually closes in one to three — and the summary threshold doubled to $150,000 of non-exempt value on July 1, 2026, which moved a lot of estates into the faster route. The full timeline is on how long probate takes in Palm Beach County.
Who signs depends on how the estate is set up: see the personal representative's guide to selling a house in Florida probate. If the house was the decedent's homestead, the heirs sign rather than the personal representative; see homestead property in a Florida probate. And if the family is not of one mind, see when heirs disagree about selling an inherited house. Once the sale closes, what the heirs owe in tax is set by the stepped-up basis; and if the property is a unit, see selling an inherited condominium.
Related: our Palm Beach County probate hub · probate real estate in Boynton Beach · information for probate attorneys · seller closing costs here
Questions and answers
Do you handle probate and inherited property sales in Lake Worth?
Yes. PBP Real Estate handles probate and inherited-property sales in Lake Worth, Lake Worth Beach and across Palm Beach County, working alongside the estate's attorney. Gia Freer, our Broker of Record, has been licensed in Florida since 2000 under license BK689801 and prepares the written date-of-death opinions of value estates need for their filings. We do not give legal advice and we work with the estate's own attorney rather than in place of one.
Is Lake Worth the same as Lake Worth Beach?
No. Lake Worth Beach is an incorporated city; a much larger surrounding area of unincorporated Palm Beach County shares the Lake Worth mailing address. Of the sales with a Lake Worth address closed in the last twelve months, roughly four in five were outside the city limits. It matters to an estate because permits, code enforcement liens and utility accounts are handled by different authorities, so the jurisdiction has to be established before the property is priced rather than discovered at the title stage.
What is an inherited property in Lake Worth worth?
For a sale, what matters is today's market: the median single-family home in Lake Worth closed at $560,000 year to date and the median condominium or townhouse at $207,500, at medians of 35 and 52 days on market respectively. For the estate's filings, what matters instead is the value as at the date of death, which is a separate calculation using comparable closings from before that date. Based on information from BeachesMLS for January 1 to September 30, 2026, retrieved October 18, 2026.
Will an inherited Lake Worth condominium take longer to sell than a house?
Yes, and the gap is wide. Lake Worth single-family homes are selling with 3.2 months of supply at a median 35 days to contract, while condominiums and townhouses are at 6.0 months of supply and 52 days — and an association's screening and approval of the buyer runs after that, between contract and closing. An estate holding a condominium should budget for a longer hold and the carrying costs that come with it.
Can the Lake Worth property be sold before probate is complete?
Usually yes. The estate normally has to be opened and a personal representative appointed with authority to sign, but the sale itself does not have to wait for the estate to close. Depending on the will, the letters of administration and whether the beneficiaries consent, specific court authority may be needed for the sale itself.
Should we renovate an inherited Lake Worth property before selling?
Usually not. Most inherited properties need clearing, cleaning and two or three specific repairs rather than a renovation, because a full renovation spends estate money and estate time on work the market will not always pay back. In Lake Worth there is a second reason to be careful: older work done without permits has to be resolved with whichever authority governs the property, and opening up a renovation can surface that at the estate's expense.
Real-estate process only. This is not legal advice and it is not tax advice. Ask a Florida probate attorney about the estate and a CPA about anything to do with money, including the step-up in basis. We work alongside probate attorneys across Palm Beach County every week and can refer you to one.
See what the property is worth
Gia Freer, our Broker of Record, prepares a written opinion of value from our own BeachesMLS data. No automated estimate is published on this site and no price here is produced by software.
Probate in nearby cities
probate real estate in West Palm Beach · probate real estate in Delray Beach · probate real estate in Royal Palm Beach
For the county-wide process, the $150,000 summary administration threshold and the paperwork an estate needs, see our probate real estate hub for South Florida and how long probate takes in Palm Beach County.
Who should I hire for a Lake Worth probate sale?
Personal representatives and estate attorneys are not looking for a brokerage, they are looking for a named broker who has done this before. At PBP Real Estate you work directly with Gia Freer, Broker of Record, and Grant Freer, Owner and Broker Associate.
- Gia Freer — Broker of Record, licensed in Florida since 2000 (broker license BK689801). Probate and inherited property is one of her core specialties, and she prepares the written date-of-death opinions of value estates need for their filings.
- Credentials: REALTOR; SFR (Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource), National Association of REALTORS; CDPE designation in 2012 (earned with Grant Freer); member, BeachesMLS. Fluent in English and Spanish. Brokerage license CQ1064615.
- Track record: Gia and Grant Freer have closed 764 transactions and $203,032,127 in sales volume since 2000 (Flexmls, October 1, 2026).
- How we work with the estate: alongside the estate's own attorney, never in place of one. PBP provides real estate services only — not legal or tax advice. Speak with a probate attorney about the administration itself, and a CPA about tax.
Also serving probate and inherited property in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, or start with our Palm Beach County probate guide.
The same Palm Beach County process, with each city's own house and condominium figures: probate real estate in Wellington; probate real estate in Palm Beach Gardens; probate real estate in Jupiter.
Sources and legal references
This page summarizes Florida law and court procedure for property owners. The primary sources are below; for your own estate, rely on a Florida-licensed probate attorney.
- Chapter 732, Florida Statutes: Probate Code; Intestate Succession and Wills — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Chapter 733, Florida Statutes: Probate Code; Administration of Estates — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Section 733.613, Florida Statutes: Personal representative's right to sell real property — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Section 735.201, Florida Statutes: Summary administration; nature of proceedings — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Section 732.401, Florida Statutes: Descent of homestead — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Section 733.702, Florida Statutes: Limitations on presentation of claims — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
- Florida Probate Rules (Florida Rules of Court Procedure) — The Florida Bar
- 26 U.S. Code Section 1014: Basis of property acquired from a decedent — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators — Internal Revenue Service
- Property tax exemptions, including homestead — Florida Department of Revenue
- Probate Division, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) — Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida
Families we have helped
PBP Real Estate holds 86 Google reviews at an average of 5.0 out of 5. Every quote below is a verbatim excerpt from a public review on that profile, shortened only where marked.
Gia and John from PBP Real Estate exceeded expectations in selling my mother's Delray Beach condo, which had previously failed to sell with another firm. Despite being in New York, I experienced excellent communication and responsiveness via phone, text, and email, making the remote process, including the closing, stress-free.
★★★★★ Robert S. · Google review, December 2024
I needed to sell my mothers home from out of state and Gia made the whole process very easy. She helped me getting the right people to get the house emptied and cleaned.
★★★★★ Roger D. · Google review, December 2024
We live in Ohio and had to sell a home in South Florida that needed a lot of work. She is extremely knowledgable and very helpful when it came to what should be done and what could be left alone to get us the most profit. Gia has a large network of reliable contractors.
★★★★★ A Google reviewer · Google review, April 2020
Read all 86 reviews on Google or see more on our about page.