[JudyKayTee]

Nicely done. I'd give you a greenie but I have to spread it around some.

Basically, the estate continues to own the property. The executor is merely the tool that facilitates completion of the transactions.

Thanks Lisa - I know you're the resident expert on this and so I appreciate the thumbs up!

[JudyKayTee]

This is all very interesting. I was just always under the impression that a 3rd. party couldn't be held responsible for another's agreements but I guess that isn't always so.

You are still misunderstanding the situation - there is NO third party. The Executor acts on behalf of the Estate, by law - no third party involved.

[s_cianci]

You are still misunderstanding the situation - there is NO third party. The Executor acts on behalf of the Estate, by law - no third party involved.

Actually I really don't misunderstand anymore. I've learned from this thread ; I'm just a little surprised about what I've learned. I just never realized that a deceased person's estate could be compelled to perform on a contract, save for pre-existing liens on any of the estate's property, e.g. satisfying the remaining balance of a mortgage or something similar.

[helloitsme2]

I don't know the legal side of things, however, last year I encountered this issue! We were four days from closing and the seller died. He had a will and had assigned his daughter as executer. So, the forms were all changed to read:"Janey Doe, Personal Representative of the Estate of John Doe." The family actually continued with the sale, as planned, but had to hustle to get all of the paperwork filed with the Register of Wills prior to the sale.
FYI: We were warned by our agent that we would have lost our goodfaith deposit if we decided to back out of the sale. The seller had already complied with all of our repair requests.

Hope this story helps! :)