Executor disputes: can an executor sell property without all beneficiaries approving?

Updated 20 August 2026 · 6 minute read

Most estates generate friction; a few generate war. Whether it's two executors who can't agree or beneficiaries who've stopped trusting the one in charge, the escalation ladder is the same - and the early rungs are dramatically cheaper.

Co-executors who can't agree

Executors must act jointly - neither can outvote the other. When deadlock hits:

1. Put the disagreement in writing

   Vague grievances become specific, and half of them dissolve on paper.

2. Mediate

   A half-day with an estates mediator costs less than a directions hearing and preserves the relationship.

3. Ask the court for directions

   Either executor can ask the Supreme Court to resolve a specific question - narrower and cheaper than removal.

4. Removal

   The nuclear option: the court can remove an executor and appoint an independent administrator. Costs usually come from the estate - everyone's inheritance shrinks.

Beneficiaries vs the executor

Beneficiaries are entitled to information, proper accounts, and administration without undue delay - roughly a year before pressure is legitimate. They are not entitled to run the administration. Legitimate triggers for action:

• No progress and no explanation well past the 'executor's year'
• Refusal to provide accounts or basic information
• Self-dealing - the executor buying estate assets, or favouring themselves
• Assets left unsecured, uninsured or falling in value

Can an executor sell property without all beneficiaries approving?

Usually yes. Once probate is granted, the executor's power to sell comes from the will and from the trustee legislation in each state and territory, not from the beneficiaries. If the house falls into the residue of the estate to be divided between several people, the executor can obtain a valuation, list it, accept an offer and sign the contract without every beneficiary agreeing. The executor does not need a sibling's signature to sell, and should keep beneficiaries informed rather than ask their permission.

There are two situations where the answer changes. If the will leaves the house to a named person as a specific gift, the executor must transfer it to that person rather than sell it, unless the estate needs the money to pay debts. If the will gives someone a right to live in the house for a period or for life, the executor cannot sell over that right. Read the will before anything else.

The power to sell comes with duties. The executor must get market value (an independent valuation and an open sale process are the usual proof), act for all beneficiaries equally, and not sell to themselves, a spouse or a relative unless every adult beneficiary gives fully informed consent or the Supreme Court approves the sale. A quiet below-value sale, a private deal with a friend, or ignoring a specific gift are the lines that turn a routine sale into a removal application and a personal costs order.

Can a beneficiary stop the sale?

Objecting is not enough. A beneficiary who wants to keep the house has two real options: buy out the other beneficiaries' shares at market value (the executor can usually transfer the house to them with the price adjusted against their entitlement), or apply to the Supreme Court for an order. The court stops a sale where the executor is breaching a duty, not because one person would prefer to keep the family home. A caveat lodged on the title to block settlement, or a threat of court proceedings, should go to a lawyer the same week; a caveat without a proper claim can be removed and the person who lodged it can be ordered to pay the costs it caused. Where a sale is contested, either side can ask the court for directions and the court can direct that the property be sold and set the terms.

A beneficiary is living in the house and will not move out

An adult child or sibling who was living with the deceased has no automatic right to stay unless the will gives them one. The executor should write to them setting out the plan for the house and a reasonable date to vacate, and can ask them to pay occupation rent in the meantime, which is usually adjusted against their share at distribution. If they refuse to leave, the executor applies to the Supreme Court for possession. The executor holds the legal title and owes a duty to the other beneficiaries, so the order is normally made; the cost usually comes out of the estate unless the court decides the occupant should pay it.

Delay hurts everyone. The estate keeps paying rates, insurance and maintenance, the market moves, and the main residence capital gains tax exemption generally only runs for two years from the date of death. A standoff that drags past that window can cost the whole estate tax, which is often the argument that finally moves a reluctant sibling.

Co-executors who disagree about the sale

Both executors must sign the contract and the transfer. One cannot sell over the other's refusal, and an agent cannot act on one signature. If one executor refuses without a good reason while the house sits empty, the other can ask the court for directions authorising the sale, or in a persistent case for the refusing executor to be removed. Where the will gives a discretion to sell rather than a direction to sell, an executor can reasonably hold off, but beneficiaries entitled to the residue can apply for directions to compel a sale when the delay is damaging the estate. The practical steps are on selling a house before probate and transferring property after death.