Which documents an estate owes, and which it does not
Selling a 2727 Kirby Unit From an Estate
Updated September 2026
What does it take to sell a condominium at 2727 Kirby out of a deceased owner's estate in Texas?
An executor selling at 2727 Kirby owes the buyer a resale certificate the association has 10 days to produce, unless a court orders the sale, and owes no seller's disclosure notice at all (Texas Property Code, read September 2026).
Paige Martin, Houston Properties Team, 2727 Kirby
Source: Texas Property Code, sections 82.151 and 82.157, the resale certificate and when one is not required, September 2026.
Who can sign the deed on a 2727 Kirby condominium after the owner has died?
A title company reads authority off one document. Letters testamentary or letters of administration, issued under the court's seal by the clerk of the court that granted them, are sufficient evidence of the appointment and qualification of the representative and of the date of qualification. The court grants letters testamentary, if permitted by law, before the 21st day after the will is probated, to each executor named in the will who is not disqualified and is willing to accept the trust and qualify according to law.
Then the fork that decides everything after it. Under the Estates Code an administration is independent where the will says so, or where all of the distributees agree to it and designate in the application for probate the executor the will names. That second route is open where the will names an executor without providing for independent administration, and the court grants it unless it finds that doing so would not be in the estate's best interest; a will may instead provide that no independent administration may be allowed, and an estate under such a will is settled under the direction of the probate court. Unless limited by the terms of a will, an independent executor has the same power of sale for the same purposes as a personal representative in a supervised administration, without the requirement of court approval, and the procedural requirements applicable to a supervised administration do not apply. Where the will authorizes the executor to sell, the sale chapter requires no court order, subject to one exception in the same section. Where a will is silent or its language falls short, the court may include authority to sell in the order appointing the independent executor, consented to by the distributees who are to receive an interest in the property.
On the buyer's side the statute closes the question instead of leaving it to an audit. A person who is not a devisee or heir does not have to inquire into the power of sale of an independent executor or independent administrator, or into the propriety of its exercise, where dealing with that representative in good faith and where a power of sale is granted in the will, granted in the order appointing the representative, or covered by a sworn affidavit the representative records in the county deed records saying the sale is necessary or advisable for one of the purposes the sale chapter lists. That affidavit is conclusive proof of the authority to sell as between the purchaser and the estate, for acts undertaken in good faith reliance.
What changes if the court is supervising the sale?
A supervised sale is a different transaction, not a slower version of the same one. Except as the sale chapter provides otherwise, estate property may not be sold without a court order authorizing the sale. The application is in writing, describes the real estate, and comes with an exhibit verified by affidavit showing the estate's condition fully and in detail, the charges and claims that have been approved, established by suit, or rejected and still open to proof, with the amount of each, the property remaining on hand that is liable for them, and the facts showing the sale is necessary or advisable. On that filing the clerk issues a citation to all persons interested in the estate, served by posting, informing them of their right to file an opposition during the period the court prescribes.
Then the reporting. A successful bid or contract is reported to the court no later than the 30th day after the bid is made or the property is placed under contract, sworn to, in writing, filed with the clerk and noted on the probate docket. After five days have expired from the date the report is filed, the court inquires into the manner in which the auction or contract was made and hears evidence for and against it. If the court is satisfied that the price is fair, that the sale was properly made and that it conforms with law, it enters an order approving the sale and authorizing the representative to convey on the purchaser's compliance with the terms of the sale, and that action has the effect of a final judgment. The deed then refers to and identifies the order, vests in the purchaser all right, title and interest of the estate, and is prima facie evidence that the sale met the law's requirements.
A contract written for this path leaves room for the filing, the posted citation, the report, the wait of at least five days and the approval date, and a buyer has to accept that calendar before anything else is negotiated. It is also the less travelled path. The Office of Court Administration counted 63,952 estate cases statewide in FY 24, of which 45,674 were independent administrations and 2,760 were dependent administrations. Those are statewide counts for Texas rather than a reading of any one county's docket.
Does the estate still have to produce a resale certificate?
Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code, the Uniform Condominium Act, excuses the resale certificate in five cases, and two of them are the ones an estate meets in the ordinary course. A gratuitous disposition of a unit is one, and distributing the home to a beneficiary rather than selling it is a gratuitous disposition. A disposition pursuant to court order is the other, and a sale confirmed by the court in a supervised administration is a disposition pursuant to court order. The remaining three are a disposition by a government or governmental agency, one by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, and one that may be canceled at any time, for any reason, without penalty. A sale for value by an independent executor is none of those, so the full resale requirement applies to it.
That means the selling owner furnishes the buyer a current copy of the declaration, the bylaws and any association rules before the contract is executed, together with a certificate prepared no more than three months before it is delivered. The association has ten days after receiving a written request to furnish it, signed and dated by an officer or authorized agent, and it may charge a reasonable and necessary fee capped at $375.
The certificate is issued by the association rather than by the estate, so the representative's job is to ask in writing, early, and in the name the association carries for the owner. What comes back states the periodic common expense assessment, the unpaid common expenses and special assessments currently due and payable from the selling owner, other unpaid fees or amounts payable to the association, and every fee associated with the transfer of ownership, with a description of each fee, to whom it is paid and how much it is.
Where the ten days pass without a certificate, or without information the certificate requires, the selling owner may provide the purchaser a sworn affidavit signed by the owner in place of the certificate, and the parties may agree in writing to waive the requirement to furnish it. Both of those are routes the statute and the contract already carry, so a slow association is a scheduling problem rather than a dead end.
Does the estate have to fill in the seller's disclosure notice?
The seller's disclosure notice is the seller's own document, under a different chapter from the one that governs the association's certificate. The statute requiring it does not apply to a transfer "by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust." Conflating the two documents is the mistake worth avoiding here: one is owed by the association, the other is excused for the fiduciary.
What the exemption removes is the notice itself, and with it the seven-day termination right a buyer gets when a required notice is delivered after the contract is signed. TREC's Residential Condominium Contract (Resale) carries a box for exactly this situation, the box a seller ticks to record that the Texas Property Code does not require this seller to furnish the notice. Ticking it is a statement about the statute rather than a statement about the home.
What the notice would have asked about is still what a buyer asks about, and in a condominium the items are specific: homeowners' association or maintenance fees or assessments; any common area co-owned in undivided interest with others; any notices of violations of deed restrictions or governmental ordinances affecting the condition or use of the property; any lawsuits directly or indirectly affecting the property; and room additions, structural modifications or other alterations or repairs made without necessary permits.
At this building several of those questions have a published history. Curtainwall Design Consulting investigated the glass guardrails and podium cladding, was retained as engineer of record for the replacement, and its project record gives a completion date of 2013 and states that all issues were rectified in 2014. The buyer's guide to the building sets that out with its source, which is a steadier answer for a representative to give than a recollection.
Most estate sales are written As Is, which the contract defines as the present condition of the property with any and all defects and without warranty, except for the warranties of title and the warranties in the contract. Agreeing to buy As Is does not preclude the buyer from inspecting the home, from negotiating repairs or treatments in a subsequent amendment, or from terminating during the option period.
What keeps accruing while the estate is open?
An assessment levied against a unit or a unit owner is a personal obligation of the owner and is secured by a continuing lien on the unit, and on rents and insurance proceeds received by the owner relating to it. That lien is created by recording the declaration, which is both record notice and perfection; for this condominium the instrument was filed on 7 May 2009 under file number 20090193056, with a supplement filed on 4 May 2012 under file number 20120196965. The word assessments carries a wide load in that section: regular and special assessments, dues, fees, charges, interest, late fees, fines, collection costs and attorney's fees, all of them enforceable as assessments unless the declaration provides otherwise. After an association's initial assessment, assessments must be made at least annually on a budget adopted at least annually, so the monthly figure can change while an estate is open.
For scale rather than for budgeting, the median monthly fee reported on the homes that sold at 2727 Kirby in 2026 was $2,896, as the market-statistics feed computed its snapshot on 28 Aug 2026. That series is the middle of the dues attached to the homes that closed in each year, so it follows which homes sold rather than the fee schedule. It is a scale, and the resale certificate is the bill.
At closing the contract splits the carry three ways. Regular periodic maintenance fees, assessments and dues are prorated through the closing date. Cash reserves the association has built from regular assessments for deferred maintenance or capital improvements are not credited to the seller. And any special assessment due and unpaid at closing is the seller's.
The carry runs for as long as the sale does. As of September 2026 the median home at 2727 Kirby took 70 days to go under contract, against 21.0 months of inventory, measured across sales since March 2026. The record at this address is 18 closings at 2727 Kirby, most recently April 2026.
What happens if more than four years have passed?
A will may not be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the testator's death unless it is shown by proof that the applicant was not in default in failing to present it sooner. Even where a late will is admitted, letters testamentary may not be issued unless the application for probate was filed on or before that fourth anniversary. Both rules carry an exception for a foreign will, which the Estates Code handles in sections of its own. And a person who purchases property from the heirs for value, in good faith and without knowledge of the existence of a will, after the fourth anniversary, takes good title to the interest the heirs would have had in the absence of a will, against the claim of a devisee under a will offered later.
A lighter route exists where its conditions fit. Where the court is satisfied that the will should be admitted to probate, and either is satisfied that the estate owes no unpaid debt other than a debt secured by a lien on real estate or finds for another reason that there is no necessity for administration, a will may be admitted as a muniment of title with no representative appointed. The applicant files with the clerk, not later than the 180th day after the will is admitted, a sworn affidavit stating which terms of the will have been fulfilled and which have not. The court may waive that requirement or extend the time, and failing to file it does not affect title to property passing under the will.
Read the debt condition against a condominium in one line: an unpaid assessment is a debt, and the association's lien sits on the unit. Independent administration, a supervised administration and a muniment of title are the routes, and which one fits a particular estate is a question for a Texas probate lawyer.
What can this page not tell you?
Whether a particular estate is independent or supervised is stated in the will and in the order appointing the representative. Those two documents settle it, and a title company will read both.
How long a probate takes is a question for the court where the application is filed and for the lawyer handling it.
The assessment on a specific home, and any special assessment against it, are stated in the resale certificate the association issues on the selling owner's written request.
The association's name, its managing agent and its mailing address sit on the recorded management certificate, which the county clerk indexes as a "Condominium Association Management Certificate" and which the association also files with the Texas Real Estate Commission for publication.
Whether this association will deal with a representative before letters have issued is the association's own rule rather than the statute's, so ask the association and its managing agent.
The condition, finish and occupancy of one specific home are answered by seeing it, and by the closed sales most like it.
Questions & answers
2727 Kirby questions, answered
Can an executor sell a condo at 2727 Kirby without a court order?
It depends on the kind of administration rather than on the fact of the estate. Unless the title specifically provides otherwise, an independent executor may take without a court order any action a representative under court supervision could take with or without one, and unless the will limits it, holds the same power of sale for the same purposes. Under a supervised administration, except as the sale chapter provides, estate property may not be sold without a court order authorizing the sale.
Two routes create an independent administration. A testator may provide in the will that no other action is had in the probate court than probating and recording the will and returning any required inventory, appraisement and list of claims, and may instead forbid independent administration, in which case the estate is settled under the court's direction. Where a will names an executor without providing for independent administration, all of the distributees may agree on the advisability of one and designate that executor in the application, and the court appoints accordingly unless it finds doing so would not be in the estate's best interest. An intestate estate has its own version, by agreement of all the distributees on a qualified person to serve. Where the will authorizes a sale, the sale chapter requires no court order, subject to one exception in the same section. Where a will is silent about selling, or its language is not sufficient, the court may write general or specific authority to sell into the order appointing the independent executor, consented to by the distributees who are to receive an interest in the property; the representative may then sell under that order without further consent.
What document proves the executor can sign the deed at closing?
Letters testamentary, or letters of administration. Issued under the court's seal by the clerk of the court that granted them, they are the statutory evidence of the appointment, the qualification and its date. Failure of the court to issue them inside the statutory period does not affect the validity of letters issued afterwards. The court grants letters testamentary, if permitted by law, before the 21st day after a will is probated, to each executor named in the will who is not disqualified and is willing to qualify.
The letters answer who signs. A separate question is what a buyer has to check about the power behind the signature, and the Estates Code answers that too. A purchaser who is not a devisee or heir, dealing in good faith with an independent executor or independent administrator, need not audit that representative's authority where a power of sale is granted in the will, where it is granted in the court order appointing the representative, or where the representative executes and records in the county deed records a sworn affidavit that the sale is necessary or advisable for one of the purposes the sale chapter lists. That affidavit is conclusive proof of the authority to sell as between a purchaser and the estate, its representative and its heirs and distributees, for acts undertaken in good faith reliance. It does not release the representative from duties owed to a devisee or heir in relation to the sale. Bring the letters, the will or the appointing order, and whichever of those three routes applies to the title company early, because they read authority off paper.
Does an estate have to give the buyer a resale certificate at 2727 Kirby?
In an independent executor's ordinary sale, yes. The Uniform Condominium Act writes its exemptions by the type of disposition, and two of the five are the ones an estate meets in the ordinary course: a gratuitous disposition, such as distributing the home to a beneficiary, and a disposition pursuant to court order, such as a sale a court confirms in a supervised administration. A sale for value by an independent executor is neither, so the declaration, the bylaws, the rules and the certificate are all owed.
The certificate is the association's document, not the estate's. The selling owner asks for it in writing and the association has ten days from receiving that request to furnish it, signed and dated by an officer or authorized agent, carrying the current operating budget and the statements the statute lists. An association may charge a reasonable and necessary fee for it, capped at $375. The statements a representative will be asked about are the money ones: the periodic common expense assessment, unpaid common expenses or special assessments currently due from the selling owner, other unpaid amounts payable to the association, and every fee associated with a transfer of ownership, with a description of each fee, who receives it and how much. If the ten days pass with nothing produced, the selling owner may give the buyer a sworn affidavit signed by the owner instead, and the parties may agree in writing to waive the requirement to furnish the certificate. Make the written request in the name the association carries for the owner, so the request is not waiting on a name mismatch.
Does the estate fill in the seller's disclosure notice?
No. Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code requires a written notice of property condition from a seller of residential real property of not more than one dwelling unit, and it lists the transfers it does not reach. A transfer by a fiduciary administering a decedent's estate is on that list, alongside transfers under a court order or foreclosure sale and transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy. The contract has a box recording that the code does not require this seller to furnish the notice.
The exemption removes the notice and the termination right that travels with it. Where a required notice is delivered after the contract is signed, the buyer may terminate for any reason within seven days after receiving it. With no notice required, that window never opens, and the buyer's protection sits in the option period and the inspection instead. The questions the notice asks are still the questions a buyer asks in a condominium: association fees and assessments, common areas co-owned in undivided interest with others, notices of violations of deed restrictions or governmental ordinances, lawsuits affecting the property, and alterations or repairs made without necessary permits. A representative can answer several of those from documents rather than from memory. The association's certificate speaks to fees, assessments, pending suits and known code violations. The recorded declaration and its plats describe the boundaries of the home. The facade work at this building has a published record with dates on it, which is a better answer than an estimate.
Do the HOA dues keep running while the estate is open?
Yes. An assessment is a personal obligation of the unit owner and the declaration's recording perfected the association's lien on the home, which secures regular and special assessments, dues, fees, charges, interest, late fees, fines, collection costs and attorney's fees unless the declaration provides otherwise. After an initial assessment, assessments are made at least annually on a budget the association adopts at least annually, so the figure can move while an administration runs. The certificate states the amount currently due on a specific home.
A past due assessment or installment may bear interest at a lawful rate the association establishes, so a balance left alone while letters are pending grows by more than the monthly line. At closing the contract sorts it out in three moves. Regular periodic maintenance fees, assessments and dues are prorated through the closing date. Cash reserves the association has built from regular assessments for deferred maintenance or capital improvements are not credited to the seller. A special assessment due and unpaid at closing falls on the seller under the contract. Plan the carry across a real marketing period. As of September 2026 the median home here took 70 days to go under contract, against 21.0 months of inventory, measured across sales since March 2026. An estate that prices from the closed sales most like the home, rather than from a building-wide average, is planning against the figure that matters.
Can the association foreclose if assessments go unpaid during probate?
The Act gives the association the right to foreclose its lien judicially or by nonjudicial foreclosure under the power of sale created by the chapter or the declaration, and costs of foreclosure may be added to what the owner owes. One limit is written into the same section: a lien for assessments consisting solely of fines may not be foreclosed. At any time before a nonjudicial sale, an owner may avoid it by paying all amounts due the association.
The lien needs no separate filing to exist. Recording the declaration creates it, and that recording is both record notice and perfection, so unless the declaration provides otherwise no other recordation of a lien or notice of lien is required. It attaches to the unit and to rents and insurance proceeds the owner receives relating to it. For a representative the practical reading is short. Keep the account current while the administration runs, ask the association in writing for a statement of what is owed rather than working from the last bill anyone saw, and read the certificate when it arrives, because it states the unpaid common expenses and special assessments currently due from the selling owner. Where a sale is being made under court supervision, the amounts owed to the association are part of the picture the application and its verified exhibit put in front of the court, which asks for the estate's condition in detail and the claims against it.
Nobody probated the will for more than four years. What now?
The four-year line has three parts. A will may not be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the death unless the applicant proves they were not in default in failing to present it sooner. Even where a late will is admitted, letters testamentary may not issue unless the application was filed on or before that anniversary. Both rules except a foreign will. And a good-faith purchaser for value from the heirs, without knowledge of a will, is protected.
That third part is why a title company asks how long ago the death was. Someone who buys from the heirs after the fourth anniversary, for value, in good faith and without knowledge that a will exists, holds good title to the interest the heirs would have had in the absence of a will, against the claim of any devisee under a will offered later. A lighter route exists where its conditions fit. A court may admit a will as a muniment of title where it is satisfied that the will should be admitted to probate and either that the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate, or that for another reason there is no necessity for administration. No personal representative is appointed. The applicant files a sworn affidavit not later than the 180th day after the will is admitted, stating which terms have been fulfilled and which have not, and the court may waive that or extend the time. Read the debt condition against a condominium: an unpaid assessment is a debt, and the association's lien sits on the unit. Which route fits is a question for a Texas probate lawyer.
Can an estate sell a 2727 Kirby condominium As Is?
Most estate sales are written that way. In TREC's Residential Condominium Contract (Resale), As Is means the present condition of the property with any and all defects and without warranty, except for the warranties of title and the warranties in the contract. It is a limit on what the seller promises about condition rather than a limit on what the buyer may check before the option period ends.
The contract says so in its own words. A buyer's agreement to accept the property As Is does not preclude the buyer from inspecting it, from negotiating repairs or treatments in a subsequent amendment, or from terminating during the option period. So an As Is sale out of an estate still runs on documents. The declaration, the bylaws and the association rules go to the buyer before the contract is executed in an independent executor's ordinary sale, with the association's certificate behind them. The recorded declaration and its plats describe the boundaries of the home and are where a parking allocation lives, and spaces at this condominium have been reallocated by recorded amendment. Where the fiduciary exemption applies, the contract records it in the box for a seller the code does not require to furnish the notice. Pair that with an As Is clause and the buyer's questions move to inspection and to the association's file, which is where a representative can answer them from paper rather than from recollection.