Posted by Jimmy on May 01, 2007 at 08:40:05:
you are asking more than one question.
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Required Sale or Requested Sale? Does the will say the property must be sold, and the proceeds divvied up? or does it request the sale? the latter would be precatory in nature, and non-binding. if it requires a sale, I’m not sure that it would be enforceable. if it were in the best interests of the beneficiaires NOT to sell, I can easily see a probate judge dismissing the required sale provision. that is a fairly unusual thing to put in a will.
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if the property has been distributed from the estate to the beneficiaries (meaning the property is now formally titled in their names), you have to get all of them to get full title. You can deal with them individually if you want, but each individual can only deed you what he or she owns.