My brother and I are co-executors of our father's estate. The estate is not settled. Can the property be sold?

It is hard to answer this question without knowing the reason why the Estate has not been "settled". Are there disputes between the heirs, or contested issues with creditors of the Estate? I would strongly encourage you to meet with the attorneys and find out what the problem really is.

Normally, the executors can sell the property while other steps are being taken. After the sale is completed, and everything else is done (inheritance tax return, settling claims of creditors, etc.) then there can be a distribution to the heirs.

Court approval might be required when the property is being sold to one of the executors.

These are some informal thoughts, and not intended as legal advice.

If you and your brother were appointed executors, then there is a Will, the only reason I can think of why you can't buy the property is because there may be more debts than assets in the estate, therefore, your purchase of the property is held up, not because you can't buy it, but becasue you only intend to buy out your brother, i.e. his share. If you were to pay market value for the house, then wait for reimbursement from distribution of the estate, that would be permitted. But, I assume that is not what you intend. Therefore, wait for distribution, where you will take the home as part of your share and pay your brother his share of the house.

I would speek with a second lawyer. Property can ushaly be sold during the pendnecy of an estate. there may have to be some cort intervetion to allow one of the coexsecutors to buy from the other, but it should be solvable. GET A COMPETENT LOCAL LAWYER.

You do not say whether or not there is a Will and you do not say whether or not there are other beneficiaries beside you and your brother. If there are no other beneficiaries and you and your brother agree on a price, then there is nothing wrong with you proceeding to buy him out. You need to keep in mind that if there are no additional assets, you may need to personally contribute additional funds to pay administrative expenses, but other than that, I see no reason why this cannot happen.

As was stated in one of the other responses, you may need to get court permission, if your letters of authority are restricted.

Best of luck to you!

James Frederick

I am only licensed in Minnesota, so I can't speak to your state. But many states have adopted the uniform probate code, so many of the provisions are similar. If you were in a Minnesota probate court, the normal rule is that you can sell the property 30 days after the Letters Testamentary (by which the court confers legal authority on you) are issued. However, you have to keep the proceeds from the sale in the estate account for a period of four months to allow creditors to file claims. If one of the executors (we call them "Personal Representatives" if there is a will and "Administrators" if there is no will) wants to buy the house, it would behoove them to get an independent appraisal to establish the price and then either get all the devisees (beneficiaries under the will) or heirs (if there is no will) to consent to the purchase. In Minnesota, we use an "Agreement Among Heirs" to do this. If the executor can't get everyone to agree, I would get court approval of the purchase. Otherwise, you could have someone object to the self-dealing aspect of the transaction. As executor, you are a fiduciary and held to a much higher standard of conduct under the law.