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Administration and Probate Act 1929
50Powers of executors and administrators to sell, mortgage
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50 Powers of executors and administrators to sell, mortgage
or lease real estate
(1) Subject to this section, an executor or an administrator may, without
the consent of any person or the order of a court—
(a) sell or mortgage the real estate of the deceased person for
purposes of administration; or
(b) sell the real estate of the deceased person in relation to which he
or she died intestate, for purposes of distribution or division
among the persons entitled; or
(c) lease the real estate of the deceased person in possession for any
term not exceeding 3 years; or
(d) raise, on the security of the whole or any part of the intestate
estate of the deceased person, any sum required by the executors
or administrators for the purpose of paying to a partner of the
person the share, or a part of the share, of the partner in the
intestate estate of the person.
(2) Any conditions may be imposed on the exercise of the power of sale,
mortgage, lease or raising of any sum by an administrator, and either
generally or for a particular sale, mortgage, lease or raising of any
sum, by rules of court, or by the Supreme Court in the grant of
administration (if any), or by other order.
(3) The registrar must write on letters of administration issued by him or
her, and on any copy of the letters of administration, a certified copy
of any conditions imposed by the Supreme Court under
subsection (2).
(4) A purchaser, mortgagee, lessee or other person who for valuable
consideration acquires an interest in the estate of the deceased person,
or the registrar-general or other person registering title under any sale,
mortgage or lease under this section, is not bound to inquire whether
the powers mentioned in subsection (1) or any of them are being or
have been exercised for the purposes specified in that subsection, and
the receipt of the executor or administrator is a sufficient discharge,
and exonerates the persons paying the money from any responsibility
for the application of the money expressed to have been so received.
(5) Some or 1 only of several executors or administrators may exercise
those powers with the leave of the Supreme Court, and not otherwise,
and the court may make any orders it considers appropriate for the
purpose of carrying out any such sale, mortgage, lease or raising of
any sum.
(6) In this section:
intestate—see section 44.
intestate estate—see section 44.
partner, in relation to an intestate—see section 44.