Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: death disclosure selling real estate

The duty of disclosure is more general than you seem to suppose. The issue is not whether someone died in the house, or on the parcel that once included the house. The law requires a seller to disclose anything that would materially affect a buyer's willingness to buy or perception of value. If someone died a normal and peaceful death in the house, even sale of the house would probably not require disclosure. On the other hand, if the property was the scene of something resembling the shootout at OK Corral, it wouldn't matter how small the subdivision or how far the parcel in question from where anyone took a bullet -- if the notoriety associated with the incident has an effect on value, it must be disclosed.

So, in your case, I suppose the question of whether disclosure is required rests upon whether the circumstances of the death in the house were sufficiently bizarre, criminal or notorious. I'd say it's better to disclose than not; if the circumstances aren't unusual, the prospective buyer will just shrug it off as unimportant, and you won't have to worry about withholding the information. On the other hand, if the buyer is turned off because of the disclosure, that is pretty strong evidence that the death should have been disclosed!