A Personal Representative has many duties that must be carried out in accordance with Florida Probate Law. These duties include gathering estate assets, determining and resolving estate liabilities, paying any taxes, distributing the estate assets to beneficiaries and closing the estate.
In Florida a deceased person’s estate is administered by the Personal Representative. The Personal Representative is a person, bank, or private entity appointed by the Court to oversee the probate process of the decedent’s estate. Florida uses the term Personal Representative to describe the overseer of the estate; a Personal Representative is the same as an executor, administrator, or other similar terms used in other states. A Personal Representative has many duties that must be carried out in accordance with Florida Probate Law; these duties include:
· Identify and secure all the assets of the probate estate. This may be the single most important duty of the Personal Representative.
· Identify creditors of the estate and provide notice to the creditors that an estate for decedent has been opened.
· Pay valid claims raised by creditors against the estate from estate funds; object to invalid claims.
· File tax returns and pay any taxes that may owed by the decedent or by the estate.
· Pay expenses of administering the probate estate from estate funds.
· Distribute estate assets to beneficiaries.
· Close the probate estate.
Being a Personal Representative is a complex and difficult task that should be undertaken only with the advice of an experienced probate attorney. For example, if the Personal Representative mismanages the decedent’s probate estate, the Personal Representative may be held liable to the beneficiaries for any harm that the Personal Representative may have caused.
