What Are The Duties Of A Personal Representative In Florida Probate?
Individuals who have limited experience in estate management can easily find executor duties intimidating. While probate tasks can indeed sometimes be complex, it may be helpful to remember that Florida’s probate rules are set up to ensure that an individual serving as the personal representative of a deceased loved one’s estate will have guidance from a legal professional throughout the process of final administration. To discuss your own situation and estate management concerns, reach out to Loughlin Law, P.A. by calling 561-559-6214 and set up a private consultation.
What Are Executor Duties?
In many states, the person nominated in a Last Will and Testament to oversee the essential tasks of final estate management is called the testator’s Executor, or (depending on context) the Executor of the deceased person’s estate. In Florida, the person who accepts responsibility for a decedent’s estate management through the probate process is called a Personal Representative, and – although in technical terms “any interested party” may submit a deceased person’s Will for probate, often the person nominated in the Will to assume executor duties makes the petition for administration one of their first probate tasks.
Who Can Be a Personal Representative in Florida?
Testators in Florida enjoy broad latitude in nominating the personal representatives to whom they wish to entrust the probate tasks associated with the final administration of their estates. That said, there are still a few requirements that a personal representative must meet to qualify for their role under state law. After the Will is submitted to the Probate Court, a Florida judge will check to see that the document expresses the testator’s preference regarding a personal representative, and if so will proceed to conduct a brief review to ensure that the person nominated meets all of the criteria specified under §§ 733.301-3101, Florida Statutes before issuing letters of administration in response to the petition to begin administration.
Institutional Executors
Although executor duties will need to be carried out by a legal person, this legal person can sometimes be an entity, such as a bank or law firm. One major reason for this rule is that, in the absence of a designated personal representative or member of the deceased person’s family, the estate’s creditors – often institutions, rather than individuals – have the right to petition the probate court for permission to begin the process of administration, under certain circumstances.
Representation by an Attorney
When an individual (also known as a “natural” person, as distinct from a “legal” person) is nominated as the personal representative of an estate in a valid Last Will and Testament, Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 requires that the personal representative of the estate be represented themselves by an attorney admitted to practice law in Florida under most circumstances. Depending on the deceased’s circumstances, he or she may have left directions indicating an existing relationship with a law firm that has been involved in their estate management over the years and would therefore be familiar with the decedent’s business matters.
If the decedent left no such instructions, or a newly-appointed personal representative wishes to seek guidance for the probate process independently, many estate planning attorneys offer this service, and attorneys who deal with probate tasks on a regular basis are generally not surprised at requests for initial consultations regarding executor duties. A Florida estate planning attorney with Loughlin Law, P.A. may be able to walk you through the process and answer your questions about probate tasks.
Standard Probate Tasks for Personal Representatives in Florida
There are a few common probate tasks for which personal representatives are responsible. Some of these tasks may be more involved than others, depending on the circumstances of the estate management – for instance, a personal representative taking an estate through formal administration is always required to post a notice to creditors, but the required notice may result in the personal representative receiving many creditors’ claims, only a few, or none at all.
In addition to posting the notice to creditors, a personal representative’s executor duties include:
- Paying any outstanding debts of the estate (whether or not they are filed as creditors’ claims)
- Paying for final medical or funeral expenses out of the value of the estate
- Filing the decedent’s final income tax returns (and paying the tax owed, if any, out of the value of the estate)
- Identifying all assets remaining in the estate
- Locating all beneficiaries named in the decedent’s Will
- Distributing assets remaining after all debts have been satisfied to the designated beneficiaries in accordance with the terms set out in the Will
Some of these probate tasks may be considerably simplified if the estate qualifies for summary administration. This simplified process is less common than the formal administration usually associated with probate, but some individuals prioritize developing estate plans to ensure that their estates will qualify for summary administration or even disposition of personal property without administration.
Guidance for Estate Planning and Probate
Personal representatives perform an important final service for their loved ones when they should executor duties. Most personal representatives are very dedicated to carrying out their probate tasks to the best of their ability, but many have little to no experience in the intricacies of estate management. These personal representatives may find consultation with a probate lawyer especially helpful as they undertake the final administration of a loved one’s estate. Call Loughlin Law, P.A. at 561-559-6214 and set up a consultation to walk through the probate process and address your concerns.
