(a) After approval of the inventory, appraisement, and list of claims, the personal representative of an estate promptly shall apply for a court order to sell, at public auction or privately, for cash or on credit for a term not to exceed six months, all estate property that is liable to perish, waste, or deteriorate in value, or that will be an expense or disadvantage to the estate if kept.
(b) The following may not be included in a sale under Subsection (a):
(1) property exempt from forced sale;
(2) property that is the subject of a specific legacy; and
(3) personal property necessary to carry on a farm, ranch, factory, or other business that is thought best to operate.

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Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 356.051

  • Claims: includes :
    (1) liabilities of a decedent that survive the decedent's death, including taxes, regardless of whether the liabilities arise in contract or tort or otherwise;
    (2) funeral expenses;
    (3) the expense of a tombstone;
    (4) expenses of administration;
    (5) estate and inheritance taxes; and
    (6) debts due such estates. See Texas Estates Code 22.005
  • 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
  • Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
  • 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
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

(c) In determining whether to order the sale of an asset under Subsection (a), the court shall consider:
(1) the personal representative’s duty to take care of and manage the estate in the manner a person of ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence would manage the person’s own affairs; and
(2) whether the asset constitutes an asset that a trustee is authorized to invest under Subchapter F, Chapter 113, Property Code, or Chapter 117, Property Code.