2010 Tennessee Code
Title 30 - Administration of Estates
Chapter 2 - Management, Settlement and Distribution
Part 4 - Sale of Land to Pay Debts
30-2-402 - Petition in court of administration for sale of realty Procedure.

30-2-402. Petition in court of administration for sale of realty Procedure.

(a)  If the personal property available appears to be insufficient to pay debts and expenses, the personal representative, or a creditor whose claim is duly filed, may, at any time, file a petition in the court in which the estate is being administered, for the sale of the decedent's land, or so much of the land as may be necessary, regardless of the county in which the land lies; provided, if all of the land to be sold lies outside of the county of administration, the sale shall be held in the county in which such land lies upon such notice as may be prescribed by the court and the clerk shall file for record in the office of the register of deeds in the county where the land lies a certified copy of the decree confirming the sale or deed thereto and charge the expenses of sale and cost of recording as a part of the costs of the cause.

(b)  (1)  The surviving spouse, heirs, devisees, encumbrancers, and others interested in the realty, excepting creditors, shall be impleaded.

     (2)  No preliminary formal suggestions of insolvency need be made, nor advertisement for creditors other than that already made under the requirements of § 30-2-306.

     (3)  Nothing in the proceeding nor in any decree made in the proceeding, shall change the manner or affect the time for filing claims as provided in § 30-2-307.

     (4)  Hearings may be upon oral testimony.

     (5)  The court shall have the same powers as a court of chancery in like cases, and the mode of procedure, except as modified in this section, shall follow that prescribed for the conduct of such causes in chancery.

(c)  If, upon the hearing, the court is satisfied that the personal estate is insufficient as mentioned in subsection (a), and that the land ought to be sold, it may decree the sale of the land in whole or in part, subject to subsequent confirmation by the court. The court is also empowered, in a like proceeding, to ratify contracts of private sale and to authorize the consummation of the contracts by the personal representative. Every deed made pursuant to such orders of court, whether issued as the result of a public or a private sale, and every decree of court divesting and vesting title shall be effective to divest all the right, title and interest, legal and equitable, in the property sold, and vest the title and interest in the purchaser.

(d)  The heir or devisee whose land shall be sold has the privilege, either in this cause or by subsequent application, to compel all others holding or claiming under the decedent to contribute in proportion to their respective interests for the purpose of equalizing the burden of the loss.

(e)  Nothing in subsections (a)-(d) shall be construed as divesting the jurisdiction or powers now possessed by the chancery court in respect of the administration of insolvent estates of decedents.

[Acts 1939, ch. 175, § 8; 1943, ch. 24, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 8196.11 (Williams, § 8196.8); Acts 1957, ch. 395, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 30-602.]