Case Name: Upon the Petition of Timothy Gay, Administrator
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Decision Date: 1809-10
Citations: 4 Tyng 419
Docket Number: 
Parties: Upon the Petition of Timothy Gay, Administrator
Judges: 
Reporter: Massachusetts Reports
Volume: 5
Pages: 326–326

Head Matter:
Upon the Petition of Timothy Gay, Administrator
An administrator may sell land holden by his intestate under a lease for 999 years as personal property, without obtaining a license from the Court, as in case of selling real estate for the payment of debts.
The petitioner, as administrator of the goods and estate of-, stated that the personal estate of the deceased was insufficient for the payment of the just debts, and he prayed for a license to sell the real estate for that purpose, which he alleged to consist only of a piece of land with the buildings thereon, which the deceased possessed under a lease for 999 years.

Opinion:
By the Court. This is but a chattel, which the administrator may dispose of in the same manner as he may of the personal property of his intestate. He has no occasion for a license from this Court.
Note. J. Richardson, who presented the petition, said he had so instructed the administrator, but, to remove all doubt, he had moved the question to the Court for their opinion.