One of the first steps during the probate process is the appointment of a personal representative or executor. Sometimes, the deceased party planned ahead and named a personal representative in their estate planning documents. Other times, the probate courts appoint someone willing to take on the role who seems capable of fulfilling the necessary responsibilities.
Unfortunately, not everyone who secures an appointment as a personal representative competently and effectively fulfills their responsibilities. In some cases, they may engage in outright misconduct. Other times, they simply fail to act or prove incompetent when managing the estate’s resources. The actions or inaction of a personal representative can cost an estate thousands and drastically reduce what heirs or beneficiaries receive from the estate.
Can concerned family members and other beneficiaries ask the probate courts to remove a personal representative?
The courts can replace personal representatives
Provided that the situation meets certain standards, the probate courts can potentially remove a personal representative from their role. State law authorizes the courts to remove a personal representative in several different circumstances upon official request from concerned parties. The courts can revoke the letters that empower a personal representative to manage the estate.
In cases where there is evidence of clear misconduct, including self-dealing or embezzlement, that can be grounds for a representative’s removal. The courts can also remove a personal representative who has failed to take necessary actions. Those failures can include not submitting necessary paperwork to the courts, not properly managing resources or not distributing assets in accordance with the testator’s instructions.
The probate courts can also remove a personal representative when their personal circumstances become unstable. Medical issues that result in incapacity, pending criminal charges related to homicide or manslaughter and personal bankruptcy could all make someone ineligible to serve as a personal representative.
Finally, incompetence, meaning being incapable of fulfilling probate requirements, could justify the decision to remove a representative from their position. Both incompetence due to medical challenges and a general inability to properly manage estate affairs could justify the decision to revoke the representative’s letters and replace them with someone else.
Families who have evidence of any of these concerning issues may want to discuss whether initiating probate litigation is the right decision with a skilled legal team. A timely lawsuit can help protect the inheritance that people should receive from the misconduct or incompetence of a harmful personal representative.
