Short answer. Yes, in the court's discretion. Rule 109, Section 2 allows the probate court, notwithstanding a pending controversy or appeal, to permit distribution of such part of the estate as may not be affected by it among the heirs or legatees, on terms the court deems proper and just and in compliance with Rule 90's conditions.
What the law says
permit that such part of the estate as may not be affected by the controversy or appeal be distributed among the heirs or legatees, upon compliance with the conditions set forth in Rule 90 of these rules
Rule 109, Section 2 — Advance distribution in special proceedings. Read the full provision →
The dispute does not have to freeze everything
Estate proceedings are notorious for hostage situations: one contested claim or one appealed order, and every heir waits years for property nobody is fighting over. Section 2 is the Rules' answer. Notwithstanding a pending controversy or appeal in proceedings to settle the estate of a decedent, the court may permit distribution — the pendency of the fight, by itself, is not a reason to hold the whole estate. What the section quarantines is the disputed part; what it releases is the rest.
Only the unaffected part moves
The boundary is written into the text: what may be distributed is such part of the estate as may not be affected by the controversy or appeal. That makes the decisive question one of separation. If the appeal concerns one property, one legacy, or one claimant's share, the assets and shares that stand or fall independently of its outcome are candidates for advance distribution. Where the controversy could reshape the entire division — a will contest, say, or a dispute over who the heirs are — little of the estate can honestly be called unaffected, and the section offers correspondingly little.
Discretion, terms, and Rule 90's conditions
Nothing here is automatic. The court acts in its discretion and upon such terms as it may deem proper and just, and distribution proceeds only upon compliance with the conditions set forth in Rule 90 of these rules — the Rule governing distribution and partition of the estate generally. So an advance distribution is a court-supervised carve-out, not a shortcut around the settlement: the judge decides whether to allow it, shapes the terms protecting whatever remains contested, and holds the release to the same conditions that govern any distribution.
Making the request
An heir asking for advance distribution should come ready to prove the separation the section requires: an inventory identifying which assets the controversy or appeal actually touches, and a proposed distribution confined to what it does not. Expect the court to impose terms — its mandate is what is proper and just — and expect the request to be tested by the other parties. The strongest applications are the modest ones: clearly unaffected property, clearly computed shares, and protection left in place for everything still in dispute.