Delaware · ProbateDelaware probate home sale: the Court of Chancery order, or a power of sale in the will

In Delaware, when a decedent's personal estate is not sufficient to pay the debts, the executor or administrator may petition the Court of Chancery of the county where the real estate lies for an order to sell all or part of it, after at least 10 days' written notice to the interested parties and to tenants in possession (12 Del. C. §2701); the court orders no more sold than it considers sufficient (§2704). Every sale under the chapter is by public auction or by private sale with the court's approval, and an auction is advertised at least 10 days ahead (§2706). The executor returns the sale to the court, and only if the return is approved does the executor make the deed – and the court orders no deed until the purchase money is paid (§2708). The buyer takes the decedent's title free of the heirs' and devisees' claims and of judgments and money mortgages of the decedent (§2709). Where the will gives authority to sell real estate, that power survives among the executors and is exercised in execution of the will, and the buyer is not responsible for how the money is applied (§2719).