CD ClariDeed Sample Report This is a redacted sample. Property details are fictional. Order yours →
DEMO · NOT ADVICE Illustrative concept demo — not legal, tax, or financial advice. Every MA legal/tax figure below is marked “verify” and must be confirmed. A MA-licensed estate attorney and a CPA must review before any client use. ClariDeed organizes the legal landscape and connects you to a licensed attorney — it is not a law firm.
CD ClariDeed Estate Roadmap

The legal road from inherited house to clean sale

Probate, taxes, and the transfer rules — laid out in the order families actually hit them, with the questions only your attorney and CPA can answer marked clearly.
Subject: 12 Silver Street, Salem, MA 01970 · single-family · held since 1985 · Southern Essex District
DR Handed over from DeedRead. The deed read flagged this as an estate — title sits with the estate, and the lien sweep needs clearing. Parcel & findings carried over. Here’s the legal roadmap to clear it.
ClariDeed gives you the landscape + your team — not advice on your specific estate. The path is your attorney’s call.
✓ Public data from the recorded/assessor record ⚠ Explainer general MA landscape — not advice ✎ Needs your docs / pro attorney, CPA, or appraiser
Step 1 · Can you even sell yet?

The MUPC probate roadmap ⚠ Explainer

Massachusetts adopted the Uniform Probate Code (MUPC) in 2012. This is the general order of operations — your attorney determines the correct path for your facts.

A Personal Representative (PR) must be appointed before a sale can close. You can list early, but the buyer’s attorney will catch a probate gap at title exam, so the deed can’t record until the PR holds Letters. File early — it runs in the background while you prep the house.
Informal vs. formal probate. Informal is the faster, no-hearing track when the will is clear and uncontested — typically 4–12 weeks for PR appointment depending on county backlog and filing quality verify. Formal probate is for contested, unclear, or supervised matters.
Voluntary administration usually does NOT apply with a house. It’s only for personal-property estates at or under $25,000 (excluding one vehicle) — the affidavit procedure is a personal-property device and cannot transfer real estate. A house in the estate means informal or formal probate. verify with attorney
Selling during probate. A PR often has authority to sell under the will or by statute verify without a separate “license to sell”; a license to sell (a petition to the court) is the path when authority is unclear or contested. Your attorney confirms which applies.
The liability line — why this stays general
Telling you “file informal probate” for your estate would be the unauthorized practice of law. ClariDeed gives you the landscape and connects you to a MA-licensed estate attorney who makes the call for your facts.
Step 2 · The tax relief most heirs miss

Step-up in basis ⚠ Educational

Inherited property generally gets a new cost basis equal to its fair-market value at the date of death (federal IRC §1014) — so decades of appreciation can disappear for capital-gains purposes. On a home bought in 1985, this is enormous. General information, not tax advice — confirm with your CPA.

Original 1985 purchase (old basis)$79,000
Illustrative market sale today~$520,000
Gain taxed without step-up~$441,000
New basis with step-up (= date-of-death value) verify w/ appraiser~$500,000
Gain taxed with step-up (sold near DOD value)≈ $0–$20K

Illustratively, the step-up could shield roughly $440K of gain — on the order of $65K–$90K of federal capital-gains tax potentially avoided verify w/ CPA (before NIIT / state treatment). Massachusetts follows the federal basis rules, so the step-up applies for MA income tax too.

The date-of-death value — handle with care
The step-up is set at the date of death, not the date of sale. You’ll likely need a documented date-of-death value for basis/estate purposes — obtain it from a licensed appraiser. We deliberately do not state a date-of-death value here: a non-appraiser putting a number on it would be unlicensed appraisal, and it feeds a tax filing. We flag the need and stop.
Step 3 · The Massachusetts estate tax

The $2M threshold ⚠ Educational

Massachusetts taxes estates over $2,000,000 (raised from $1M effective Jan 1, 2023). The federal exemption is far higher (~$13M+), so the MA tax is what most local estates watch. General information, not tax advice.

The 2023 reform removed the old “cliff” verify rate table for year of death
Mechanically, the tax is still computed on the full estate using the state table, then reduced by a $99,600 credit — the tax that would otherwise fall on the first $2M under the old table. Net effect: the first $2M is effectively shielded, so an estate is no longer taxed on its entire value from the first dollar once it crosses the line (the pre-2023 “cliff”). Confirm the rate table for the year of death — it can change legislatively.

How it applies here

At an illustrative ~$520K, this home is well below the $2M threshold. MA estate tax is a concern only if the total estate (all property, accounts, life insurance, prior gifts) exceeds $2M. If it does: MA Form M-706 is due 9 months after the date of death, and an unresolved estate-tax liability can create a lien that must clear before the deed records — another reason to engage the attorney early.

Step 4 · The transfer-time regulatory gate

Title 5 septic ⚠ Explainer verify sewer status

If the home is not on municipal sewer, MA Title 5 (310 CMR 15.000) requires a septic inspection that is valid within 2 years of the transfer (valid for 3 years if the system was pumped annually and records are documented) verify. A failed system means repair or a buyer escrow — a real deal-killer if discovered late. Salem is largely municipally sewered, so this may not apply here — confirm the sewer/septic status for this parcel before listing.

Where the title mechanics live
The 6D / municipal lien certificate, the PR (fiduciary) deed, and the deeds excise are read on DeedRead (the title side). ClariDeed handles the probate, tax, and regulatory gates above. Together they clear the path.
Step 5 · Who you need & when

Build your team ✎ Your pros

MA Estate Attorney
First call. Files probate, confirms PR authority, drafts the PR deed, holds proceeds for creditors/taxes.
CPA / Tax Advisor
Confirms step-up basis, capital-gains exposure, and whether the estate trips the $2M MA estate tax.
Licensed Appraiser
Documents the date-of-death value (for basis/estate). The number we will not opine on.
Listing Agent
Prices as-is vs. fixed and runs the sale — once the legal path is clear (that’s ListingOracle, next).

First 30 days

ClariDeed’s read on the legal path

The path is clear: probate runs, taxes are understood, the gates are mapped.

With the attorney engaged and the step-up/estate-tax picture understood, the legal blockers to a sale are identified and in motion. The remaining decision is the commercial one: what is it worth, and do you fix it or sell as-is?

That’s where ClariDeed hands off — to the agent’s listing engine, with the legal & title work already done.

LO Next: ListingOracle — price it, and decide fix-vs-sell-as-is, with real comps and net-to-seller. See what it’s worth →