A personal representative with a house to sell needs to establish the source of the authority to act. A power of sale in the will, unsupervised administration and a court-ordered sale involve different documents and procedures.
The routes to sale authority
Two things decide it. If the estate is unsupervised, the personal representative may sell estate real property without a court order.
If the will gave a power of sale, the representative may act under that power without a court order. Absent both, the sale runs through a petition, notice and an order of the court.
The house is already in your hands
IC 29-1-13-1 is blunt about it. "Every personal representative shall have a right to take, and shall take, possession of all the real and personal property" of the decedent. The same section lets the representative bring an action "for the possession of real property" or "to determine the title to real property." The heirs do not hold the keys during administration.
You do.
Route one: a power of sale in the will
IC 29-1-15-2 is short and it is the first thing to look for. Where the will gives the representative power to sell, mortgage, lease or exchange estate property, the representative "may proceed in accordance with such power without order of the court," and may still elect to use the statutory procedure instead if there is a reason to.
IC 29-1-15-17 then makes that power provable to a title company. A certified copy of the will giving the power and a certified copy of the letters may be recorded along with the deed, and when recorded they are prima facie evidence of the representative's appointment and qualification and of the authority to execute that instrument under the power.
Route two: unsupervised administration
IC 29-1-7.5 is headed "Unsupervised Administration and Claims Against Personal Representatives and Distributees," and IC 29-1-7.5-2 sets the conditions a court looks for: the people the chapter describes have joined the petition, the estate can pay its debts, the representative is qualified to serve without supervision, the heirs, legatees or devisees "freely consent to and understand the significance of administration without court supervision," and "the will does not request supervised administration." As an alternative, a will that itself authorizes unsupervised administration gets there too.
IC 29-1-7.5-3 is titled "Powers of Personal Representative to Act Without Order of Court," and what it carries is broad. The representative may "Sell, mortgage, or lease any real or personal property of the estate or any interest therein for cash, credit," may carry out the decedent's enforceable contracts to convey land and "execute and deliver a deed of conveyance for cash payment of all sums remaining due," may acquire or dispose of an asset including land in Indiana or elsewhere, may make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or demolish improvements, may abandon property that is valueless or too encumbered to be of benefit, and may borrow money.
The section also says that an order entered on some other matter in an unsupervised estate does not revoke that authority unless the court converts the estate to supervised administration.
What the deed has to say
This is the detail that stalls closings. IC 29-1-7.5-3.6 gives the recital that makes the conveyance work: "The conveyance subscribed by the personal representative is sufficient to convey all title in the real property to the grantee if the conveyance includes substantially the following language," and the sample language names the representative, names the estate, states that "This estate is pending as Cause Number ___________ in __________ County, Indiana," and conveys "by virtue of the power given a personal representative under Indiana law." The cause number and the county belong on the deed.
The attorney preparing it knows that. The seller should know it too, because it is the line that gets questioned.
Route three: the supervised sale
Where neither of the first two applies, the sale is governed by the chapter headed "Sales, Mortgages, Leases, Exchanges" for personal and real property. Under IC 29-1-15-11 the representative files a petition that "shall set forth the reasons for the application and describe the property involved," the court sets a hearing, notice goes to heirs or devisees and to lienholders unless waived, and on "satisfactory proofs" the court may order the sale of the property or any part of it. The court's order, under the next section, is where the property description, the choice of private sale or public auction, and the terms get fixed.
On value, IC 29-1-15-14 says the value of the property for the purposes of a sale "shall be the fair market value filed with the inventory unless the court directs" the property be appraised or reappraised. So a fresh appraisal is not automatic in a court-ordered sale. It happens when the court orders it.
The section sets no minimum percentage of appraised value.
The estate's attorney should establish the administration route, any power of sale, required notices and appraisal requirements. The CPA handles income tax, basis and gain. Provide the authority documents to the title company before the sale is under contract.
How a listing runs covers the rest, and whether probate was needed at all is the note before this one.
Sources, read at the Indiana Code on 2026-10-11: IC 29-1-13-1, as amended through P.L.95-2007, SEC.10; IC 29-1-15-2, formerly Acts 1953, c.112, s.1502, as amended by Acts 1982, P.L.171, SEC.42; IC 29-1-15-11, as amended through P.L.184-2021, SEC.6; IC 29-1-15-14, formerly Acts 1953, c.112, s.1514 and Acts 1975, P.L.288, SEC.31; IC 29-1-15-17, as amended through P.L.238-2005, SEC.14; IC 29-1-7.5-2, as amended through P.L.182-1999, SEC.3; IC 29-1-7.5-3, as amended through P.L.50-2025, SEC.3; and IC 29-1-7.5-3.6, as added by P.L.130-1992, SEC.5.
This note is general. It is not legal advice. What a personal representative may do in a specific estate is decided by the will, the court and the estate's attorney.