Summary
The Supreme Court of Florida held that the three-month deadline in section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes, generally bars objections to a personal representative’s qualifications, including objections that the representative was never qualified to serve, when the objection is not timely filed. The Court recognized an exception where fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct concerning the qualifications was not apparent from the petition or discovered within the statutory period. The Court approved the First District’s decision in Hill and disapproved Angelus to the extent it adopted a broader exception.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes (2007), bars an objection to the qualifications of a personal representative when the objection is filed more than three months after service of the notice of administration.
- Whether the three-month deadline applies when the objection asserts that the personal representative was never legally qualified to serve as a nonresident personal representative.
- Whether the exception recognized in Angelus applies where fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct concerning the personal representative's qualifications was not apparent from the petition and was not discovered within the statutory period.
Holdings
- Section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes (2007), bars an objection to the qualifications of a personal representative when it is not filed within three months after service of the notice of administration.
- The three-month deadline applies even to an objection asserting that a personal representative was never qualified to serve, when the factual basis for the objection was known to the challenger and could have been raised within the statutory period.
- The three-month deadline does not bar an objection based on fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct concerning the personal representative's qualifications when the matter was not apparent on the face of the petition and was not discovered within the statutory period.
Key quotations
“For the reasons explained below, we hold that section 733.212(3) bars an objection to the qualifications of a personal representative, including an objection that the personal representative was never qualified to serve, if the objection is not timely filed under this statute, except where fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct with regard to the qualifications is not apparent on the face of the petition or discovered within the statutory time frame.” (70 So. 3d at 573-574)
“A claim that a nonresident is not qualified to serve is an objection to the qualifications of a personal representative, a matter expressly addressed in section 733.212(3).” (70 So. 3d at 577)
Factual background
Following Katherine Davis's death in Florida in 2007, her stepson, Douglas Davis, a New York resident, was appointed personal representative based on his nomination in the will. Hill, the decedent's mother, was served with the notice of administration on July 24, 2007, but did not challenge Davis's qualifications until August 6, 2008. Her challenge asserted that Davis did not satisfy the statutory requirements for a nonresident personal representative because his father, the decedent's husband, had predeceased the decedent.
Procedural history
After Douglas Davis was appointed personal representative of Katherine Davis's estate, Solveig Hill filed a motion challenging his qualifications as a nonresident personal representative more than three months after receiving the notice of administration. The probate court denied the challenge, and the First District affirmed on the ground that section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes (2007), barred the untimely objection. The First District certified conflict with Angelus v. Pass, and the Supreme Court of Florida accepted review.
Remand instructions
The decision of the First District Court of Appeal is approved, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court's decision. Hill's pending motion for a conditional award of appellate attorney's fees was denied.