Section 5.22 Petition for Specific Performance

• Library: Estate Administration 2014 Supp

1. (§5.22) Petition for Specific Performance

The statutory requirements for the personal representative to transfer real property under such a written contract are found in §§ 473.303–473.313, RSMo 2000. If a decedent entered into a contract that is specifically enforceable in equity but did not execute the contract before death or give the personal representative power by will to execute the contract, the other contracting party or the personal representative may petition the court, setting forth the facts and stating that no part of the contract has been satisfied—except as set forth in the petition—and request that the personal representative be ordered to execute the contract specifically by executing a deed for the real property in question. If the other party to the contract with the decedent is the personal representative, the personal representative may proceed against the co-personal representative. If there is none, the court is to appoint a suitable person as administrator ad litem to represent the estate in this matter.

In Estate of Basler v. Delassus, 690 S.W.2d 791 (Mo. banc 1985), the Supreme Court of Missouri broadened the powers of a supervised personal representative to compromise a claim involving an action for specific performance of a contract for real estate and claims for additional monetary remuneration.

The decedent devised her 209-acre farm to her four children, who also were the sole...