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Who is Entitled to Be the Executor or Personal Representative of a Florida Estate?

Uncategorized • Aug 23, 2016
post about Who is Entitled to Be the Executor or Personal Representative of a Florida Estate?

Are YOU entitled to be the personal representative of a Florida estate? What is the difference between an executor and a personal representative? Who is entitled to preference to administer a Florida estate? What Florida law gives that entitlement? Trust and Estates litigators know that, when involved in probate litigation or an inheritance dispute, familiarity with Florida Statute 733.301 is usually very important.

Probate Litigation & Florida Statute 733.301

  • In Florida, trust and estates lawyers West Palm Beach and probate judges refer to an executor of an estate as a personal representative.
  • How does someone get appointed a personal representative?
  • A probate judge issues an order that empowers someone to serve as personal representative of a Florida estate.
  • The judge also issues letters of administration, which give the authority to that person to go ahead and administer the Florida estate.
  • Trust and Estates lawyers Boca Raton know that there’s an order of preference that is supposed to be observed in evaluating and appointing someone as a personal representative of a Florida probate.
  • Florida Statute 733.301, part of Florida’s Probate Code, lists the preference in appointment of a personal representative.
  • Fun Fact: Florida Probate Code is a list of statutes, which are different than the Florida probate rules.
  • When is Florida Statute 733.301 considered?
  • Florida Statute 733.301 is very important to the court when someone dies without a will and the interested people or heirs cannot agree on who should be the personal representative of the decedent’s estate.
  • Also, it is utilized in the context of family fights.
  • For example, this statute comes in handy when someone is appointed in a Florida will to administer the estate but someone else doesn’t think they are fit to administer the estate.

Preference WITH a Will

  • Where a will is involved with an estate, the personal representative that is nominated by the will is given the highest preference.
  • This makes sense because the decedent clearly intended for the person they named in the will to be the personal representative of his or her estate.
  • The next person that gets preference is “the person selected by a majority in interest of the person’s entitled to the estate.”
  • Lastly, a devisee under the will is given preference.
  • What is a devisee?
  • A devisee is someone who is named to receive an inheritance under the will.

Preference WITHOUT a Will

  • When someone passes away without a will, or intestate, who is entitled to preference to serve to administer that Florida estate?
  • First, a surviving spouse is at top of the list.
  • Then, the “person selected by majority in interest of the heirs”.
  • Lastly, the “heir nearest in degree”.
  • What does this mean?

Want to learn more?

Click here to read Florida Statute 733.301.

Want to know more about Florida probate litigation? Consider these free resources: