Any part of the personal property of a decedent, including land warrants and choses in action, may be sold only by order of the court, on the written application of the executor or administrator, verified by affidavit, in the following cases, unless, in such cases, power to sell is conferred by the will:

1. (1) For the payment of debts.
2. (2) To make distribution among the distributees or legatees.
3. (3) To prevent the waste or destruction of property liable to waste, or of a perishable nature, if it is proved that the sale would be beneficial to the estate.

(Code 1852, §1743; Code 1867, §2067; Code 1876, §2433; Code 1886, §2092; Code 1896, §142; Code 1907, §2606; Code 1923, §5832; Code 1940, T. 61, §228.)