Do Too Many Personal Representatives Spoil The Estate?
If your estate goes through probate, whether or not you have a will, the probate court will appoint a personal representative, also sometimes called an executor of the will. Your will should mention by name the person you choose to be personal representative of your estate. By including this provision in your will, you can prevent disputes where two or more family members believe that the role of personal representative should belong exclusively to them. Florida law allows you to name more than one personal representative of your estate in your will, and some people do it, but it usually creates more problems than it solves. It is better to give the legal authority to act as personal representative to just one person and to leave him or her detailed instructions about relying on others for help with various tasks related to probate; this is just part of a thorough estate plan. For help choosing a personal representative for your estate and setting up your estate plan to make the personal representative’s job manageable, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.
What Can Go Wrong If You Designate More Than One Personal Representative?
People who designate more than one person as personal representative of their estate do so with the best of intentions. The personal representatives they choose are usually family members, and the testator is trying to make things easier for the entire family. In some cases, the personal representatives are each other’s siblings, the children of the testator. By appointing them all as personal representative, the testator wants to ensure that his or her children play equal roles in probate, eliminating perceptions of unfairness, where one sibling feels overburdened with work and the others feel shut out of the decision-making process. The problem is that, when every decision requires the signature of every personal representative, this leaves plenty of room for conflict.
What to Do If You Are Worried About Your First Choice Personal Representative Being in Fragile Health
Another common scenario where there are two personal representatives is where one is the testator’s spouse, and the other is the couple’s child. In this case, the parties are not in danger of vying for each other’s inheritance. Rather, the testator worries that the spouse will not be young enough and healthy enough to handle the responsibilities of a personal representative and will need his or her child’s help.
You are wise to think about this situation, but a better solution is to name only one personal representative. Everyone has the right to hire a probate lawyer; you can even set aside funds in your estate plan for this purpose. No matter the age of your original personal representative, your will should also list a successor personal representative, who will take on the task if the original personal representative predeceases you.
Contact Gierach and Gierach About Avoiding Probate Disputes
An estate planning lawyer can help you enable the personal representative of your estate to probate your estate from a position of strength. Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
smartasset.com/estate-planning/co-executor
