Short answer. Yes, by posting a bond. Under Rule 89, Section 3 of the Rules of Court, no authority to sell, mortgage or encumber estate property may be granted if any person interested in the estate gives a bond, in a sum the court fixes, conditioned on paying the debts, administration expenses and legacies.
What the law says
No such authority to sell, mortgage, or otherwise encumber real or personal estate shall be granted if any person interested in the estate gives a bond, in a sum to be fixed by the court, conditioned to pay the debts, expenses of administration, and legacies within such time as the court directs
Rule 89, Section 3 — Persons interested may prevent such sale, etc., by giving bond. Read the full provision →
How the bond blocks the sale
The usual reason a probate court authorises a sale or mortgage is money: the estate owes debts, administration costs and legacies, and property must be converted to pay them. Rule 89, Section 3 gives interested persons a way to remove that reason. If any person interested in the estate gives a bond, in a sum to be fixed by the court, conditioned to pay the debts, expenses of administration, and legacies within such time as the court directs, then no such authority to sell, mortgage, or otherwise encumber real or personal estate shall be granted. The bond substitutes for the sale — the obligations get paid either way, so the property stays in the estate.
Who can post it, and for how much
The rule says any person interested in the estate — it is not limited to heirs. An heir who wants to keep the family land intact is the obvious candidate, but the wording reaches anyone with a stake in the estate. The amount is not for the objector to choose: the bond is in a sum to be fixed by the court, and payment must happen within such time as the court directs. Expect the sum to reflect what the sale was meant to raise — the outstanding debts, the expenses of administration and the legacies. This is a real financial undertaking, not a formality; whoever posts it is promising to cover those obligations.
Who the bond protects
The section spells out its beneficiaries: such bond shall be for the security of the creditors, as well as of the executor or administrator, and may be prosecuted for the benefit of either. Creditors lose nothing by the sale being blocked, because they can proceed against the bond if the promised payments do not come. The executor or administrator is equally protected — the personal liability they might otherwise face for unpaid claims is backed by the bond. And may be prosecuted means what it says: the bond is enforceable, so an heir who posts one and then fails to pay can be sued on it.
Weighing the move before you make it
Objecting to a sale by bond only makes sense if paying the estate's obligations yourself, on the court's timetable, is genuinely feasible — otherwise you delay the inevitable and add liability on the bond. Before offering one, get a clear figure for the debts, administration expenses and legacies still unpaid, since that drives the sum the court will fix. Consider too whether the objection is really about money at all: if your complaint is that the sale is unnecessary or the price too low, those points belong in an opposition to the administrator's petition for authority to sell, with the bond as the fallback that takes the sale off the table entirely.