D.C. Code § 20-741 - General powers

• Cite as: D.C. Code § 20-741

Except as otherwise validly limited by the will, this title, or by an order of Court made in accordance with this title, a personal representative may, in addition to any power or authority contained in the will and any other common-law or statutory power, properly:

(1) take possession of and hold assets owned by the decedent pending distribution or liquidation, including those in which the representative is personally interested or which are otherwise improper for trust investment;

(2) receive assets from fiduciaries or other sources;

(3) perform the decedent's contracts that continue as obligations of the estate, and execute and deliver such deeds or other documents under such circumstances as the contract may provide, unless the personal representative personally is a party by the terms of the contract;

(4) satisfy written charitable pledges of the decedent, which by their terms survive the death of the decedent;

(5) deposit funds for the account of the estate, including moneys received from the sale of other assets, in federally insured checking accounts, in federally insured interest-bearing accounts or in federally insured short-term loan arrangements, or in accounts or short-term investment trusts administered pursuant to, or in compliance with, the regulations of the United States Comptroller of the Currency, or at the request of the personal representative, agree to deposit any of the assets of the estate with any financial institution in such a manner that the assets cannot be withdrawn or transferred without (A) the written consent of the surety on the bonds or (B) an order of Court; deposits under this subsection shall be made in financial institutions within the District of Columbia or in any state that permits personal representatives to make deposits in the District of Columbia;

(6) acquire or dispose of property, real or personal, including land in this or another jurisdiction, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale; and manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the character of, or abandon an estate asset;

(7) make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or other structures, demolish any improvements, raze existing, or erect new, party walls or buildings;

(8) subdivide, develop or dedicate land to public use; make or obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries; adjust differences in valuation on exchange or partition by giving or receiving consideration; or dedicate easements to public use without consideration;