A non-devisee, non-heir purchaser may not have to check an executor’s or administrator’s power to sell estate property if the buyer acts in good faith and one of the listed sale-authority conditions is met.
Sec. 402.053. PROTECTION OF PERSON PURCHASING ESTATE PROPERTY. (a) A person who is not a devisee or heir is not required to inquire into the power of sale of estate property of the independent executor or independent administrator or the propriety of the exercise of the power of sale if the person deals with the independent executor or independent administrator in good faith and: (1) a power of sale is granted to the independent executor in the will; (2) a power of sale is granted under Section 401.006 in the court order appointing the independent executor or independent administrator; or (3) the independent executor or independent administrator provides an affidavit, executed and sworn to under oath and recorded in the deed records of the county where the property is located, that the sale is necessary or advisable for any of the purposes described in Section 356.251(1). (b) As to acts undertaken in good faith reliance, the affidavit described by Subsection (a)(3) is conclusive proof, as between a purchaser of property from the estate, and the personal representative of an estate or the heirs and distributees of the estate, with respect to the authority of the independent executor or independent administrator to sell the property. The signature or joinder of a devisee or heir who has an interest in the property being sold as described in this section is not necessary for the purchaser to obtain all right, title, and interest of the estate in the property being sold. (c) This subchapter does not relieve the independent executor or independent administrator from any duty owed to a devisee or heir in relation, directly or indirectly, to the sale. Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1338 (S.B. 1198), Sec. 2.53, eff. January 1, 2014.