When The Person Handling An Estate Isn’t Handling It Well: Removing A Personal Representative In Florida

What happens when the person trusted to settle a loved one’s estate simply isn’t doing the job? Maybe bills aren’t getting paid. Maybe months have passed without an accounting. Maybe you’ve started to wonder if the personal representative is treating estate funds like their own personal piggy bank. If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not powerless, and you’re definitely not alone in asking whether Florida law allows for a change.

What Is a Personal Representative Supposed to Do?

A personal representative (sometimes called an executor in other states) is the individual appointed by the court to manage a decedent’s estate. That role comes with real responsibilities: identifying and protecting assets, paying valid debts, filing required paperwork with the court, and eventually distributing what’s left to beneficiaries. It’s a position built on trust. So what happens when that trust starts to crack?

What Are the Warning Signs?

Every estate moves at its own pace, but there’s a difference between a slow process and a stalled one. Has the personal representative gone silent for months at a time? Are they refusing to provide basic financial records? Have assets gone missing, or worse, been used for personal benefit? Are court deadlines being blown past without explanation? These aren’t just frustrating experiences. They can be signs that something has genuinely gone wrong with how the estate is being managed, and Florida courts take that seriously.

What Does Florida Law Actually Allow?

Florida Statutes section 733.504 spells out specific grounds for removing a personal representative, and the list is broader than many people expect. It includes incapacity, failure to comply with court orders, failure to account for estate assets, mismanagement or “wasting” of the estate, and holding interests that conflict with the estate’s own interests, among other causes. Removal isn’t automatic. An interested party, which can include a beneficiary or an heir, has to petition the probate court and lay out the specific reasons removal is warranted. The court then decides whether the evidence supports taking action. Curious whether what you’re seeing fits into one of these categories? That’s often the first question worth asking.

Wondering Where You Stand? Let’s Talk.

Watching an estate get mismanaged is stressful enough without trying to untangle Florida’s probate procedures on your own. If you’re a beneficiary or family member who suspects a personal representative isn’t fulfilling their duties in Daytona Beach or elsewhere in Volusia County, our team at Bundza & Rodriguez, P.A. is ready to talk through what you’re experiencing and help you figure out your options. Our Daytona Beach probate litigation attorneys have walked families through exactly this kind of situation before, and we know how to help you find clarity when the process feels anything but clear. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation.

Source:

flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2021/0733.504