{"id":158,"date":"2016-12-20T15:11:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T15:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=158"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:21:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:21:10","slug":"conveyance-of-real-estate-by-personal-representative-during-the-alabama-probate-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/conveyance-of-real-estate-by-personal-representative-during-the-alabama-probate-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Conveyance of Real Estate by Personal Representative During the Alabama Probate Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Title 43 of the Alabama Code (Wills and\nDecedents\u2019 Estates) governs estate administration and probate in that state.\nProbate is the legal process by which a decedent\u2019s property is distributed to\nthose legally entitled to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>When a resident of Alabama dies, his or\nher estate must go through probate in the county where the deceased maintained\npermanent residence. Depending on how the decedent held title, real property\nmay also be subject to probate, regardless of whether the decedent died testate\n(leaving a will) or intestate (not leaving a will).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For real property owners who vest real\nestate as joint tenants, title automatically transfers by operation of law to\nthe surviving joint tenant(s), but only if a right of survivorship is expressly\nprovided in the deed (Ala. Code \u00a7 35-4-7). In addition, property held in trust\nis devised outside of probate. Any property owned separately or as a tenant in\ncommon must go through probate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a decedent dies testate, the\ncustodian of the will must deliver it to the judge of probate court to open\nprobate in the appropriate county. After the will is\nproved and admitted to probate, the custodian may petition for grant of letters\ntestamentary, which letters \u201cserve to grant the person who receives them the\nauthority to administer the estate\u201d [1]. Once appointed, this person is called\nthe executor, or more generally, the personal representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a\ndecedent dies intestate, intestacy laws dictate that the administration of the\nestate falls to one of the persons authorized under \u00a7 43-2-42 who is willing\nand able to serve, and in the specific order set forth: the husband or widow;\nthe next of kin entitled to share in the distribution of the estate; the largest\ncreditor of the estate residing in Alabama; and finally, any person whom the\njudge of probate appoints. For counties with a population above 400,000, the county\nor general administrator is entitled to administer the estate before the final\ncategory. Once authorized through the court\u2019s issue of letters of\nadministration, this person is called the administrator, but may also be\nreferred to as a personal representative.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of\nthe personal representative\u2019s title, his or her duties in administering the\nestate remain the same. The administrator is entrusted \u201cto identify\nassets, collect assets, preserve assets, identify heirs and\/or devisees,\nidentify creditors, pay claims and administrative costs, and distribute the\nbalance to the heirs and\/or devisees\u201d [1]. A personal representative of either a\ntestate or an intestate estate can sell real property to pay debts under \u00a7\n43-2-441, or, when the land cannot be divided equitably between devisees or\nheirs, by order of the probate court and with written consent of an adult\ndevisee (\u00a7 43-2-443).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To convey real property on behalf of the\ndecedent\u2019s estate, the personal representative executes a deed. In Alabama, the\ndevise, distribution, or sale of probated real property is generally\naccomplished using a statutory warranty deed. As differentiated from the general\nwarranty deed, which offers the broadest warranty of title, the narrower statutory\nwarranty under \u00a7 35-4-271 is sometimes referred to as a \u201climited\u201d or \u201cspecial\u201d\nwarranty. Use of the words \u201cgrant,\u201d \u201cbargain,\u201d or \u201csell\u201d covenants that the\ngrantor is seized of a fee simple estate; that the property is free from\nencumbrances suffered by the grantor, except those otherwise noted; and that\nthe grantor will defend the title from claims arising by or through him. This\nmore limited warranty is typically used by representatives, who are not able to\noffer a broader warranty that would extend their liability outside the scope of\ntheir fiduciary role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the requirements for a deed transferring interest in real property in Alabama (the grantor and grantee information, legal description of the property being conveyed, and document preparer\u2019s information, among others), a general warranty deed executed by a personal representative requires information about the probate case, the decedent, and the status of a will, if applicable. Additional documents may need to be recorded before a personal representative\u2019s deed can be submitted to the office of the judge of probate for recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/forms\/alabama\/\">View Available Alabama Real Estate Deed Forms<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Estate administration can be a complex\nlegal process, depending on many factors, so contact a lawyer to ensure\nadherence to all stages of Alabama probate law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">[1] <a href=\"http:\/\/alabamaatj.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Estate-Administration.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/alabamaatj.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Estate-Administration.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title 43 of the Alabama Code (Wills and Decedents\u2019 Estates) governs estate administration and probate in that state. Probate is the legal process by which a decedent\u2019s property is distributed to those legally entitled to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alabama","category-probate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Conveyance of Real Estate by Personal Representative During the Alabama Probate Process - Deeds.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Title 43 of the Alabama Code (Wills and Decedents\u2019 Estates) governs estate administration and probate in that state. 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