Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

ADMINISTRATION AND PROBATE ACT 1929 - SECT 50

    (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.