Personal Representative Duties in Florida, From Appointment to Discharge

What it is

"Personal representative" is Florida's term for the person other states call an executor or administrator. The duties and powers begin on appointment. Acts taken before appointment that benefited the estate are treated as if done after appointment, and the personal representative may ratify proper acts others took for the estate (Fla. Stat. § 733.601).

The core duty is to settle and distribute the estate according to the will and the Florida Probate Code as quickly and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate, using that authority for the best interests of interested persons, including creditors (Fla. Stat. § 733.602(1)). Most of the work happens without court orders, except where the Code or the court requires one (Fla. Stat. § 733.603).

A personal representative who breaches that duty is liable to interested persons for the resulting loss, and in those cases the court awards costs and attorney's fees (Fla. Stat. § 733.609(1)). A personal representative is entitled to a commission, presumed reasonable at 3 percent of the first $1 million of compensable value, with lower rates above that, plus further compensation for extraordinary services such as selling real property (Fla. Stat. § 733.617). See Florida probate attorney fees for how attorney compensation is set.

The Checklist, in Order

Every estate is different, but the statutory sequence is the same. Deadlines below are counted from the event shown.

• Promptly after appointment: serve the notice of administration on the surviving spouse, beneficiaries, persons who may be entitled to exempt property, and certain trustees (Fla. Stat. § 733.212(1)). It starts each recipient's 3-month period to object to the will, venue or jurisdiction (Fla. Stat. § 733.212(3)).
• Promptly after appointment: publish a notice to creditors once a week for 2 consecutive weeks, make a diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors, and serve them (Fla. Stat. § 733.2121(1)–(3)).
• Within 3 months after first publication, if the decedent was 55 or older: serve the notice to creditors and a copy of the death certificate on the Agency for Health Care Administration, unless it has already filed a claim (Fla. Stat. § 733.2121(3)(d)).
• Throughout: take possession or control of the decedent's property, except protected homestead, and take reasonable steps to manage, protect and preserve it (Fla. Stat. § 733.607(1)).
• Within 10 days after first opening a decedent's safe-deposit box: file the box inventory, signed by the two people present, with the box entry record from 6 months before death (Fla. Stat. § 733.6065(1)).
• Within 60 days after letters issue: file a verified inventory with estimated date-of-death values (Fla. Stat. § 733.604(1); Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(a)), and serve it on the surviving spouse, heirs in an intestate estate and residuary beneficiaries (Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(d)). Amend it if you find more property or a value was wrong (Fla. Stat. § 733.604(2)).
• 3 months after first publication (or 30 days after service on a creditor, if later): the claims period closes (Fla. Stat. § 733.702(1)).
• 4 months after first publication, or 30 days after a claim is filed or amended, whichever is later: deadline to file and serve objections to claims (Fla. Stat. § 733.705(2)). You cannot be compelled to pay debts until 5 months after first publication (Fla. Stat. § 733.705(1)).
• Within 1 year after first publication: pay allowed claims, unless the time is extended for claims in litigation, unmatured or contingent claims, or by the court (Fla. Stat. § 733.705(1)). Pay in the statutory order of classes (Fla. Stat. § 733.707).
• Within 12 months after letters issue (if no federal estate tax return is due): file and serve the final accounting and petition for discharge, unless the court extends the time (Fla. Prob. R. 5.400). Interested persons have 30 days after service to object.
• After administration is complete: distribute the estate and obtain discharge, which releases the personal representative and bars actions against the personal representative and the surety (Fla. Stat. § 733.901).

Paying Expenses and Claims in the Right Order

When the estate cannot pay everything, Fla. Stat. § 733.707(1) sets the order: (1) costs and expenses of administration, including personal representative and attorney compensation; (2) reasonable funeral, interment and grave marker expenses up to $6,000; (3) debts and taxes with preference under federal law and certain state claims; (4) reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness; (5) family allowance; (6) court-ordered child support arrearages; (7) debts from continuing the decedent's business, limited to that business's assets; and (8) all other claims. If a class cannot be paid in full, its creditors share proportionally (Fla. Stat. § 733.707(2)).

Is an attorney required?

Yes, in almost every case. Florida Probate Rule 5.030(a) requires a personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested person. The personal representative still makes the decisions and signs the verified filings; the attorney advises, prepares the papers and tracks the deadlines. If a personal representative is not performing these duties, interested persons can ask the court to act. See removal of a personal representative.