Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Is there a law in America which forbids selling inherited houses?
Thank you.
Shmuel
4 Answers from Attorneys
Definitely not. It does not matter whether your ownership of a house is from purchasing it, a gift, inheriting it, etc.
We have fifty states, a Federal jurisdiction, a District of Columbia, and several territories, all with their own laws. There is no such law in California, nor elsewhere so far as I know. Our Indian tribes have limited soverignty and due to their different customs and belief about ownership of land, I believe there are some limits on inheritance of the right to occupy the land of one's elders after they die on Indian reservations. If you aren't an Indian living on a reservation, no state that I know has passed such a law, and to do so would be political suicide, but not necessarily unconstitutional.
Actually, such a law would be completely unconstitutional under the takings clause. Laws that render a property completely unmarketable have been considered to be "takings" for hundreds of years. Any jurisdiction passing such a law would be sued by all affected owners in "inverse condemnation" actions.
I think that such a law would be an unreasonable restraint against alienation, and run afoul of the Rule against Perpetuities, rather than be a taking. A taking occurs when the government takes possession of real property. As I understand it, your question does not involve the government owning the property, but merely prohibiting a transfer once it is inherited.