Succession Act 1965 section 61

Purchasers from personal representatives

Section 61 establishes the principle that a person purchasing assets from personal representatives (executors or administrators of a deceased person's estate) is entitled to assume those representatives are acting properly and within their legal authority.

• A purchaser buying assets from the personal representatives of an estate is protected by a legal presumption of good faith.
• The purchaser is entitled to assume that the personal representatives are acting correctly in selling or transferring the asset.
• The purchaser is also entitled to assume that the personal representatives are acting within the scope of their legal powers.
• This protection means a purchaser is not required to investigate whether the personal representatives have properly followed all the rules governing the administration of the estate.