Who Cannot Be The Personal Representative Of A Florida Probate Estate

CANNOT BE THE PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Florida Statutes 733.303 Persons not qualified to serve as a Personal Representative:

(a) Has been convicted of a felony.

(b) Is mentally or physically unable to perform the duties.

(c) Is under the age of 18 years.

In Florida, a person is not qualified to act as personal representative of a decedent’s estate if the person has been convicted of a felony. See, Fla.Stat. 733.303. In a recent opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeals recently upheld the trial court’s denial of a father’s petition for administration of his daughter’s estate. (See, In re: Estate of Sharonda Renae Butler, 41 Fla.L.Weekly D979a.) The father claimed that because he was the sole heir that his prior felony conviction, which disqualifies him under the statute, should not disqualify him in his daughter’s estate. The trial court disagreed and the Fourth DCA sided with the trial court. Although the father’s position is understandable from a beneficiary’s view point – that as the only beneficiary there is no one else to object to or be affected by his appointment as personal representative – it also overlooks the other large class the Florida Probate Code is designed to protect…creditors. The qualification statute creates a bright-line test that produces predictable and consistent results in its application: a convicted felon is not qualified to serve as a personal representative in Florida under any circumstances.