What Is a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist (CPRES)?
A Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist (CPRES) is a real estate professional who has completed specialized training focused on working with families and personal representatives when real property is involved in probate.
CPRES is one of several educational programs available to real estate professionals who choose to develop a better understanding of probate-related real estate.
No designation, by itself, makes one agent better than another.
Specialized education can help an agent better understand the probate environment, the people involved, the terminology, the process, and where a real estate professional’s responsibilities begin and end.
My History With CPRES
CPRES is one of my older professional credentials.
I completed the training in 2011.
At the time, I wasn’t interested simply in adding another set of initials after my name. I wanted to understand better the circumstances surrounding families, personal representatives, attorneys, and real estate when a property becomes part of an estate.
More than fifteen years later, that education remains part of the foundation I bring to probate real estate.
The program’s educators, Mike Torres and Molly Torres, continue to train hundreds of real estate professionals across the country every year. Jonathan Khorsandi and his team provide additional tools, resources, and support in many other areas of probate for real estate professionals and personal representatives. I occasionally ask for their help.My CPRES pin, issued by MTI Education
That continuing education and support matter because probate is not simply another category of real estate transaction. It involves people performing different roles, and good professionals should understand both their responsibilities and their limitations.
What CPRES Means to Me
I don’t present CPRES as a promise that I know everything about probate.
Quite the opposite.
Probate can involve attorneys, courts, accountants, fiduciaries, lenders, real estate professionals, contractors, family members, beneficiaries, and others, each with a different responsibility.
Specialized education helps a real estate professional understand that environment and communicate more effectively.
The designation represents education. What matters is how the professional applies and shares that knowledge to help clients make better-informed decisions.
That is one reason I created ProbateInSoCal.com: to share what I have learned through articles, reports, presentations, and practical information for families navigating probate.
If you’re comparing probate real estate professionals, look at the designation, but also look beyond it. Consider how they have used and shared their knowledge to make a personal representative’s responsibilities easier, address heirs’ concerns, anticipate obstacles, and help families find practical solutions.
Ask about their experience. Ask how long they have worked with probate and inherited property. Ask how they communicate with personal representatives and the other professionals involved.
Most importantly, decide whether you trust the person who will stand beside you when decisions must be made.
Want to Understand More?
If you’re a personal representative or family member and you’re just beginning, bring up the issues that concern you, even the ones you think may be unusual.
ProbateInSoCal.com grew out of questions my clients asked me over the years. Many of the articles, reports, posts, and resources here began with a real question from someone trying to make a real decision.
If your question raises something we haven’t addressed, ask it. The answer may help you today and become part of the path for someone else tomorrow.
