Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

It depends. Under NC law, land passes as of death to whoever is named as an heir in the will or to the legal heirs as specified by intestacy. If there is an executor, I assume that there is a will. Unless the will provides for it, the executor generally has no power to sell the property. If the heirs/beneficiaries want to sell the land and less than 2 years from the date of the decedent's death have elapsed, the heirs/beneficiaries must involve the executor.

You describe a different situation in which the executor is trying to sell the land. I would need to see the will as it may give the executor authority to sell the land. In the alternative, there may not be enough money in the estate. If that is the case or if the will does not grant permission, the executor must petition the court for permission to sell the land. Has permission been granted already? You do not indicate the date of death or the county where the deceased lived at the time of his death.

You ask if the executor can reduce the selling price. Again, this depends on whether permission has been granted. I do not know where the land is located and do not know how valuable it is or is not. An appraisal is just that - an appraisal. It is a made up guess about the value of the property, albeit an educated guess. It is not a guarantee of any kind that the property will sell for that amount. Unlike an ordinary seller who can take the home off the market and wait for a better time, the executor has to get the land sold if he or she needs money to pay the bills. And this is a very tough economic market and may be tougher depending on the property and its location. It does not seem unreasonable for an executor to reduce the price if there are no buyers at the offering price. The home, from your description, has already been on the market for at least 7 months and there are no takers. What else can the executor do?

Your option, along with the other heirs, may be to sit down with the executor and see what is going on. Perhaps the heirs can chip in enough to get the claims paid and keep the property in the hopes that the economy will turn around given enough time. You may also want to get separate legal counsel to make sure that the executor is doing what the law directs them to do. If you believe that the executor is acting improperly by reducing the price, you can seek to remove the executor.