I’ve seen what happens when an executor hires a neighborhood realtor who doesn’t understand probate. The offer comes in below 90% of the referee’s appraisal — and the court won’t confirm it. The broker misses the publication deadline. The overbid marketing never happens, and the estate leaves $40,000 on the table. The transaction falls apart at the confirmation hearing and has to start over.
These aren’t hypotheticals. They happen regularly in Los Angeles County probate court. And they’re entirely avoidable.
Whether you’re a probate attorney advising clients on broker selection, an executor trying to fulfill your fiduciary duty, or a family member trying to help a personal representative navigate an unfamiliar process — these are the five questions that separate experienced probate specialists from agents who think one sale is like any other.
Question 1: How Many Probate Transactions Have You Closed — Specifically in This County?
This is the most important question, and the answer tells you almost everything you need to know.
Probate real estate is hyperlocal in its procedures. Los Angeles County Probate Court operates differently from San Bernardino County. The judges have different preferences. The referees have different styles. The publication requirements, the hearing calendars, the clerk’s office processes — they all vary. Experience in one county does not transfer cleanly to another.
The acceptable answers vary by context. For a simple IAEA full-authority sale, 20–30 completed probate transactions may be sufficient if the broker is otherwise well-qualified. For a contested court confirmation sale with overbid complexity, you want a broker who has been in that courtroom dozens of times.
Red flags:
- “I’ve handled a few probate sales” with no specific count
- Experience only in other counties with different procedures
- Conflating “estate sales” (contents/personal property auctions) with probate real estate
- Certification without transaction volume (designations are not a substitute for closed deals)
Question 2: Can You Walk Me Through the Court Confirmation Process — Step by Step?
Ask this question cold. Don’t prompt. Don’t lead. Listen carefully to the answer.
An experienced probate broker should be able to describe without hesitation: the 90% rule, the petition filing, the publication requirement, the notice period, the overbid mechanics at the hearing (opening overbid formula, subsequent increments, cashier’s check requirement), the court order process, and how escrow closes after confirmation.
They should know that in Los Angeles, the confirmation hearing typically occurs in Department 99 or the assigned probate department at Stanley Mosk. They should know roughly how long the petition-to-hearing timeline runs in the current court environment (which has experienced significant calendar backlog since 2020).
If they hesitate, look things up, or give you a vague overview that could apply to any transaction — that’s your answer.
Bonus question: Ask them to describe the opening overbid formula. The correct answer: accepted offer price × 1.05 + $500. If they don’t know this without thinking, they haven’t been in that courtroom.
Question 3: How Do You Market the Property Between Offer Acceptance and the Court Hearing?
This question reveals whether the broker understands one of the most important — and most often neglected — aspects of a court confirmation sale: post-acceptance overbid marketing.
In a court confirmation sale, accepting an offer is not the end of the marketing process. It’s the beginning of a new phase. The property should continue to be actively promoted to potential overbidders during the publication and notice period leading up to the confirmation hearing. A competitive overbid environment can add tens of thousands of dollars — or more — to the final confirmed price.
Strategies an experienced probate broker should describe include: continued MLS visibility with the hearing date noted, outreach to active investors and investor networks, digital advertising to probate buyer lists, clear communication to interested parties who didn’t make the cut on the initial offer, and coordination with the estate attorney on how to handle multiple pre-hearing expressions of interest.
If the broker’s answer is essentially “we wait for the hearing” — they’re leaving estate money on the table.
Question 4: Have You Ever Had a Sale Fail at Confirmation? What Happened?
This question is not a gotcha — it’s a character and competence test. Every experienced probate broker has had a sale fail or face serious complications at confirmation. The question is what happened and what they did about it.
A seasoned broker will have a direct, honest answer. They’ll explain what went wrong — an offer that came in below the 90% threshold, an overbidder dispute, a title problem discovered at the hearing, a court scheduling conflict — and describe exactly how they handled the fallout. Did they help the estate recover? Did they take responsibility for preventable errors? Did they learn something that changed their practice?
A broker who claims they’ve never had a problem is either inexperienced or not being straight with you. Complex court-confirmed transactions have complications. The question is whether the broker has the experience to navigate them.
Question 5: Do You Have Relationships with Probate Attorneys, Referees, and Title Officers Who Specialize in This Area?
Probate real estate is a team sport. The broker does not work in isolation — they work alongside the estate’s probate attorney, the court-appointed probate referee, a title company that understands court-ordered transactions, and an escrow officer who knows how to handle proceeds distribution in a probate context.
An experienced probate broker has an established network of professionals they work with regularly in these roles. They know which title companies in LA County have dedicated probate departments. They know which escrow officers have handled dozens of court-confirmed closings. They have working relationships with probate attorneys who trust their judgment and communicate efficiently.
This network does not replace the estate’s independent legal counsel — it complements it. Ask for specific names or firms they work with regularly, and verify those relationships independently if you’re selecting a broker for a significant estate.
One More Thing: Ask Why They Work in Probate
This isn’t a formal vetting question, but it’s revealing. Brokers who specialize in probate do so because they find meaning in it — helping families through an inherently difficult time, working within a structured legal framework that rewards expertise, and solving problems that most agents aren’t equipped to handle.
Brokers who “dabble” in probate because they happened to get a referral once are a different animal. The motivation matters. People who choose this specialty tend to be better at it.
Why This Matters for Attorneys
If you’re a probate attorney, the broker you recommend to a client is a reflection of your judgment. A broker who causes a failed confirmation, misses a deadline, or mishandles an overbid situation creates problems for you, not just for the estate. Building a reliable referral relationship with a proven probate specialist protects your clients and your practice.
At Resolution Brokers, we’ve built our practice on exactly this kind of attorney-broker trust. We communicate proactively, stay in our lane (real estate, not legal advice), and handle the operational complexity of court-ordered sales so you can focus on the legal work.