The two sources of your authority
The will can grant a power of sale, which makes selling real estate considerably smoother. The court grants letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without one), and those letters are what third parties rely on.
Until letters are issued, you cannot sign a deed, list the property in the estate's name, or expect a title company to insure a closing. Getting appointed is step one for a reason.
Keep reading: selling before probate closes · the Arkansas executor checklist
Generally within an appointed executor's authority
- Securing the property: changing locks, maintaining insurance, keeping utilities on, mowing, winterizing.
- Paying necessary expenses to preserve estate assets, with records kept.
- Opening an estate bank account and consolidating estate funds into it.
- Inventorying personal property and obtaining valuations.
- Selling real estate where the will grants a power of sale and the estate is being administered accordingly.
Where you should expect court involvement
- Selling real estate when the will contains no power of sale, or there is no will.
- Any sale to yourself, a family member, or a business you have an interest in.
- Distributing assets to heirs before claims and expenses are resolved.
- Sales at a price a beneficiary has objected to, or well below an appraised value.
- Compromising or paying a disputed creditor claim.
Keep reading: what to do when siblings disagree · your county probate court
The paperwork closing actually depends on
- 1.Order appointing the personal representative.
- 2.Current letters testamentary or letters of administration.
- 3.The will, if one was admitted.
- 4.Any order approving the sale, where required.
- 5.Legal description taken from the recorded deed.
- 6.Payoff statements and lien releases for every encumbrance, including delinquent taxes.