The apartment
in the will
Inheriting US property from overseas lands you in two legal systems at once. The good news is a stepped-up basis; the work is probate, filings, and decisions with deadlines.
Before you read on
- General information as of August 2026. Estates cross at least two countries' laws — engage counsel in both early.
- Not legal or tax advice.
- The first-90-days list in Section 4 is the practical core.
Point 1What actually transfers, and how
The route depends on how the deceased held title: joint tenancy with survivorship passes automatically to the survivor; trust-held property passes by the trust's terms without court; individually-held US real estate goes through probate — and for a foreign decedent, ancillary probate in the property's state, a proceeding recognizing the home-country estate process or administering the US asset directly.
Ancillary probate in New York runs months on a good day: Surrogate's Court, authenticated foreign documents with translations, appointed fiduciaries. Heirs cannot sell, and often cannot manage formally, until authority issues — which is why estate planning documents that avoid probate (trusts, survivorship titling, entity ownership) are worth their setup cost several times over.
Point 2The taxes at death
The US estate tax reaches a non-resident's US-situs assets above roughly $60,000 — a threshold nearly any New York apartment exceeds — at rates to 40%, moderated for some countries by treaty. The estate files Form 706-NA; qualifying debt and expenses reduce the base; and the IRS's transfer certificate, proving the estate tax is settled, is what lets title actually move. No certificate, no clean transfer.
The heir's own country taxes on its own logic — Japan, for one, taxes heirs on worldwide inheritances with its own credits for foreign estate tax paid. The two systems interact through credits imperfectly; sequencing filings with advisers on both sides prevents paying twice what one careful pass would.
Point 3The stepped-up basis: the system's gift
Inherited property takes a basis equal to date-of-death fair market value: decades of the deceased's appreciation simply exit the capital-gains system. An apartment bought for $400,000 and inherited at $2 million can sell at $2 million with no US capital gain at all — the single most valuable mechanical rule in cross-border succession.
Document it while it is easy: a professional appraisal effective at the date of death fixes the step-up defensibly. Heirs who sell years later without one negotiate their basis with the IRS from memory — an expensive way to save an appraisal fee.
Point 4The heir's first 90 days
The keep-or-sell decision deserves unsentimental math once authority arrives: a stepped-up basis makes selling tax-cheap now, while keeping means non-resident landlord obligations (ITINs, elections, filings) or pied-à-terre carrying costs — plus your own future estate exposure on the same asset. Families who decide by spreadsheet keep the apartment for reasons; families who decide by inertia keep it for costs.
| Task | Why now |
|---|---|
| Secure and insure the property | Vacancy voids coverage; estates own liabilities too |
| Date-of-death appraisal | Fixes the stepped-up basis while evidence is fresh |
| Counsel in both countries | Probate route and filings sequenced once, correctly |
| Locate title, loan, and building documents | Everything downstream needs them |
| Decide manage-vs-sell provisionally | Leases, taxes, and filings differ by path |
| Building and tenants notified properly | Managing agents need the fiduciary's authority |
Nothing here commits the estate — it preserves every option while the slow steps run.
The estate may owe US estate tax above the ~$60,000 non-resident threshold; heirs' own countries tax separately on their rules. The property itself transfers with a stepped-up basis for future gains.
The US-state proceeding administering a foreign decedent's American asset — in New York, through Surrogate's Court with authenticated foreign documents. Trust or survivorship titling avoids it entirely.
All capital gains accrued during the deceased's ownership vanish for US purposes: basis resets to date-of-death value. Obtain an appraisal now to fix it defensibly.
Only once authority exists (probate or trust succession) and the IRS transfer certificate path is underway. FIRPTA applies to the eventual sale by non-resident heirs.
The estate services it; qualifying debt reduces the taxable estate. Contact the lender early — loans have due-on-death mechanics that counsel should manage.
Run it as an investment decision at the stepped-up basis: selling is tax-cheap now; keeping means landlord or pied-à-terre economics plus your own future US estate exposure. Spreadsheet, then sentiment.
RELATED GUIDES
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Handling an inherited US property? We will coordinate counsel on both sides, secure the asset, and price both paths before anything is signed.
Important notice
The figures on this page are general information as of August 2026 and do not represent an offer, a quote, or a guarantee of any transaction terms. Reinvent NY does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Confirm anything material with an attorney and a CPA before you act on it. Nothing here is a solicitation to invest, and no return is promised. Real estate brokerage services are provided through R New York.