Mass. Gen. Laws » Part II Title II Chapter 202
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 202, § 20 (2026)

Sale of realty for payment of debts; limitation of time

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 20. No interest in the real estate of a deceased person conveyed absolutely or in mortgage for value and in good faith by an instrument duly recorded shall be liable to be taken on execution, or sold under any judicial proceeding for payment of his debts, costs of court, or claims against his estate, except claims for taxes, municipal assessments or succession taxes, legacies or other charges created by will of the deceased, or the expenses or charges of administration, after the expiration of one year from the time of the first appointed executor or administrator first giving bond for the performance of his trust, unless in pursuance of a license to sell granted in consequence of an order for the retention of assets passed under the provisions of section thirteen of chapter one hundred and ninety-seven upon a petition filed within said year or before said conveyance or mortgage is recorded, or unless in pursuance of a license to sell granted upon a petition filed in the registry of probate within said year, or unless for the satisfaction in whole or in part of a claim of which notice has been filed in the registry of probate within said year, stating substantially the name and address of the claimant, the nature and amount of the claim and the court, if any, in which proceedings are pending to determine or enforce the same. Said notice shall be filed with the other proceedings in the case and entered upon the docket under the name of the estate of the deceased.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1958–2021 · leading case: Samra v. Yuan, 664 N.E.2d 1202 (Mass. App. Ct. 1996).
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Samra v. Yuan, 664 N.E.2d 1202 (Mass. App. Ct. 1996). “The basic contention underlying the defendant’s argument on the standing issue is that the one-year time limit for obtaining a license to sell the premises found in G. L. c. 202, § 20, has expired. 3 The judge seems to have relied on language of several older cases starting with…”
Campbell v. Anusbigian, 153 N.E.2d 757 (Mass. 1958). “G. L. c. 202, § 20. The assertion of loches must be weighed in the light of this statutory policy.”
Kupperstein v. Baker, No. 1:20-cv-11868, 2021 WL 3079887 (D. Mass. July 21, 2021). “(noting that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 202, § 20 “defin[es] the conditions under which real property of an estate that has been sold by an heir or devisee may be subject to sale in order to satisfy the debts of an estate”)).”
Sathan v. Sathan, 207 N.E.2d 302 (Mass. 1965). “The notices were pursuant to G. L. c. 202, § 20 (as amended through St.”
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