Texas Estates Code 351.203 – Powers of Personal Representative Regarding Business
(a) A personal representative granted authority to operate a business in an order entered under Section 351.202(a) has the powers granted under Section 351.052, regardless of whether the order specifies that the representative has those powers, unless the order specifically provides that the representative does not have one or more of the powers listed in Section 351.052.
(b) In addition to the powers granted to the personal representative under Section 351.052, subject to any specific limitation on those powers in accordance with Subsection (a), an order entered under Section 351.202(a) may grant the representative one or more of the following powers:
(1) the power to hire, pay, and terminate the employment of employees of the business;
(2) the power to incur debt on behalf of the business, including debt secured by liens against assets of the business or estate, if permitted or directed by the order;
(3) the power to purchase and sell property in the ordinary course of the operation of the business, including the power to purchase and sell real property if the court finds that the principal purpose of the business is the purchasing and selling of real property and the order states that finding;
(4) the power to enter into a lease or contract, the term of which may extend beyond the settlement of the estate, but only to the extent that granting the power appears to be consistent with the speedy settlement of the estate; and
(5) any other power the court finds necessary with respect to the operation of the business.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 351.203
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Court: means and includes:
(1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
(2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
(3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007 - Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
(1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
(2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
(3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012 - Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- personal representative: include :
(1) an executor and independent executor;
(2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
(3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031 - Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Real property: includes estates and interests in land, whether corporeal or incorporeal or legal or equitable. See Texas Estates Code 22.030
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(c) If the order entered under Section 351.202(a) gives the personal representative the power to purchase, sell, lease, or otherwise encumber property:
(1) the purchase, sale, lease, or encumbrance is governed by the terms of the order; and
(2) the representative is not required to comply with any other provision of this title regarding the purchase, sale, lease, or encumbrance, including any provision requiring citation or notice.