When is a Florida Personal Representative’s Duty to Act Initiated?

If I am appointed as the executor or personal representative of a Florida will, when do I have to begin work? What if I don’t want to be the personal representative of a Palm Beach estate? Do I have a duty, as nominated personal representative of a Florida estate, to prevent harm caused by the estate? Am I the official personal representative if I have not yet been appointed by a Florida probate court? A February 21, 2017 First District Court of Appeal opinion discusses this issue and a Milton, Florida estate.

Depriest v. Greeson, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Christian W. Schnitzspahn is a recent First DCA opinion. Here, an adult daughter was driving her deceased father’s car when she got into a car accident. The car was not directly left to anyone in her father’s Florida will, and the probate process for his estate had not yet started at the time of the accident. Her father’s will left everything to the daughter and his stepson as co-beneficiaries. The stepson was named as personal representative in the Florida will but had not yet been officially appointed by the probate court. Is the stepson, as personal representative, liable for the accident that the car was in? The First DCA said no! This is because he was not yet officially appointed as personal representative  and, therefore, did not have a duty to prevent the decedent’s daughter from using the decedent’s car. Click here to read the entire case and find out.