Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Personal Representative buying real estate from deceased's estate cheap and rese
In Oct of 2004 my uncle passed away and in Dec of 2004 my aunt (his wife) purchased a house and an adjoining undeveloped lot of land in Maryland for $114,900. My aunt then passed away less than 2 months later in January of 2005 as a resident of Florida. My aunt's will divided her estate 8 ways...and I am one of the beneficiaries. My aunt's nephew was made Personal Representative of her estate, he lives in the same town in Maryland where my aunt bought the real estate. The distribution of my aunt's estate has been held up pending the sale of that real estate through an ancillary administration. We just learned that my aunt's nephew (the Personal Representative) and his brother purchased the house and the land from the estate for $100,980....a loss of $14,000 from what my aunt paid for the property only 9 months ago. We also have seen that within 1 week of purchasing the property from the estate for that amount, the personal representative and his brother have listed the house and land for sale with a local realtor with a sale price of $164,900....This seems to us as a direct violation of the Personal Representative's fiduciary responsibility to handle the sale of the property in the best interests of the estate. Since he is now re-

Asked on 8/21/05, 2:40 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

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Re: Personal Representative buying real estate from deceased's estate cheap and

He has gone beyond violation of his fiduciary duties, if your facts are accurate. If possible, the remaining beneficiaries should immediately bring a suit in Maryland to stop the sale, and/or to have the proceeds payable only to the estate. Suit should be initiated to have him removed from office, held responsible for his actions and surcharged for any loss the estate has incurred.

Answered on 8/22/05, 10:04 am

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