The Personal Representative’s Role in Probate Cases

When you are making and creating an estate plan, you will be asked to name a Personal Representative. Even if you’re not making an estate plan—there could come a day when you are named as and called on to serve as a Personal Representative. All this is why it is important to know what a Personal Representative does.

Executing What’s in the Will

In simple terms, a Personal Representative executes the directives in the estate plan, or in whatever other document that will dictate where property goes, even if the property is passing without a will (intestate).

The problem with a will is that it is just a piece of paper, albeit an important one. It can’t do the things that need to be done to effectuate what’s in the will itself on its own. That takes a human.

So, for example, if a will says that the family home will go to your child, someone needs to do all the things that go with transferring the property. That may include valuing the home, getting documents for the transfer of the home together, preparing the new title, contacting the mortgage company, or other formalities.

In a more complex will, with property and bank accounts and businesses and other assets, you can see how much a Personal Representative may have to do in order to actually make sure that the property gets to whomever it’s supposed to get to according to the will.

Duties of the Personal Representative

The Personal Representative also performs other duties—the main one being filing the actual will with the court.

Sometimes, the will names property that people cannot find or access. Sometimes, the will leaves property to people who cannot be found, or who aren’t readily available. These people and assets need to be found by the Personal Representative.

Other entities, like the government, credit card companies, creditors, or banks, may also need to be informed about the death and the Personal Representative will provide those notices as well.

The Personal Representative puts out notices of death and finds and contacts the beneficiaries of the will.

In some cases assets may have to be valued or appraised, something that the Personal Representative arranges.

Some property may need to be preserved, while the probate case is pending. For example, someone may have to clean, maintain, and pay the bills for a home, while it goes through probate. The Personal Representative handles that as well with assets in the estate.

Sometimes, someone has a will, but not all of that person’s assets are in the will. The Personal Representative is charged with finding and locating the assets that were owned by the person that may not have been named in the will, and informing the probate court and the beneficiaries of the existence of those assets.

Open Communication

The Personal Representative also communicates with beneficiaries, to explain to them their rights under the will, and what they can expect to receive. Because beneficiaries may fight or argue the Personal Representative cannot play favorites; the Personal Representative’s loyalty is in ensuring that the property is distributed in accordance with what is in the will.

Call the West Palm Beach estate planning lawyers at The Law Offices of Larry E. Bray today for help with your estate plan, and for help if you are named as a Personal Representative.

Sources:

clearestate.com/en-us/blog/estate-Personal Representative-duties-florida

investopedia.com/terms/e/Personal Representative.asp#:~:text=An%20Personal Representative%20is%20the%20individual,due%2C%20and%20covering%20outstanding%20debts.