In that case we aren't talking about 'inheritance' -- we're just talking about a purchase. If the Estate decides that it's in the Estate's best interest to sell an asset like a house, then so be it. Your position as heir doesn't kick in until *after* the affairs of the Estate are fully settled.
You can also buy your parents' underwater house before they die.
You can think of an Estate as your disembodied self that has to clear the books before finally "dying" ... until the Estate is settled, the Estate *is* the decedent.
> But my point was somewhat different - to question the notion
> of parent's debt being dumped on children automatically,
> whether they agree to it or not.
In the US, your Estate is liable for even your unsecured debt. The way this works is that all debts are paid off with the value of the Estate; if there's something left, that's what the heirs get. If not, the remaining debt is written down.
So it's not really a question of agreement: the heirs are simply last in line. There's no 'deciding' to be done if debts exceed the value of the Estate. The heirs remain unrelated to the debt, so long as they were so in life. I.e., if you co-signed a loan with your parents and they die, it's now fully 100% your debt, but you're not in any sense inheriting it.
I think the point you didn't really get around to is that you don't ever inherit debt in the US. Even in the case where there's positive equity in say a house, it's unlikely you'll be able to simply assume the debt: you'll have to arrange for your own mortgage. So it's really a different transaction. Imagine that it's a $300k house with a $200k mortgage; even though that $100k of equity is slated to be yours (considering all other debts are paid by the Estate, and you are the only heir), the Estate will have to figure out a way to get it to you by first cutting the bank out of the picture. And technically if some third party is willing to pay the Estate $400k for the house, they typically would have to do that.
/jordan