§ 2216 Distribution in kind

When someone dies and leaves an estate, the property inside it usually gets sold and turned into cash before it's handed out to heirs or beneficiaries. This rule gives the court another option. Instead of forcing a sale, the court can order that property be given directly to the people who are supposed to receive it.

This means things like a house, personal belongings, or even money still owed to the estate (called an uncollected demand) can be transferred as-is, rather than converted to cash first. The value of that property is based on what it's worth at the time it's actually distributed, not at some earlier point.

For families and heirs, this can be helpful when someone wants to keep a specific item, like a house or a piece of property, instead of selling it and splitting the cash. The court has the power to make this happen at any point while the estate is being handled, or when the final accounting of the estate takes place.