2113.50 Completion of decedent's contract to buy land.
2113.50 Completion of decedent's contract to buy land.
When a person who has entered into a written contract for the purchase of an interest in real estate dies before a conveyance thereof to him, his executor or administrator, or surviving spouse, or any heir, or any devisee or legatee having an interest in such contract, may file an application for authority to complete such contract in the probate court of the county in which the executor or administrator was appointed. Notice of the time of the hearing on such application shall be given to the surviving spouse and heirs, if the decedent died intestate, and to the surviving spouse, and devisees or legatees having an interest in such contract, if the decedent died testate, to the executor or administrator, if not the applicant, and to all other persons having an interest in such real estate. If the court is satisfied that it would be for the best interests of the estate it may, with the consent of the vendor, authorize the executor or administrator to complete the contract, pay to the vendor the amount due on the contract, and authorize a conveyance of the interest in the real estate to the persons entitled thereto. If, however, the court finds that the condition of the estate at the time of the hearing does not warrant the payment out of the estate of the amount due under the contract, it may authorize the persons entitled to the interest of the decedent in the contract to pay to the vendor the amount due on the contract. The real estate so conveyed shall thereafter be chargeable with the debts of the estate to the extent of the equitable interest of the estate therein, and may be sold in land sale proceedings, except that in the event of such sale, the persons to whom the real estate shall have been conveyed shall have a prior lien on the proceeds as against the estate to the extent of any portion of the purchase price paid by them.
The executor or administrator, or surviving spouse, or any heir, or any devisee or legatee having an interest in such a contract, may file a petition for the alteration or cancellation of the contract in the probate court of the county in which the executor or administrator was appointed. If the decedent died intestate, the surviving spouse and heirs, and if the decedent died testate, the surviving spouse, and devisees or legatees having an interest in such contract, and the executor or administrator, when not the plaintiff, together with the vendor, and all other persons having an interest in the real estate which is subject to the contract, shall be made parties defendant. If the court is satisfied that it would be for the best interests of the estate, the court, with the consent of the vendor, may authorize the executor or administrator to agree to the alteration or cancellation of the contract and to execute and deliver such deeds or other instruments to the vendor as are required to make the order of the court effective. Such deeds or other instruments as are executed and delivered pursuant to such order shall recite the order and be as binding on the parties to the suit as if made by the deceased in his lifetime.
Effective Date: 10-16-1953