James R. Franta named Roberta Peery as the personal representative of his estate.  But a Minnesota district court determined that she was “unsuitable” for appointment under the Uniform Probate Code.  In In re Estate of James R. Franta, the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed.  Why wouldn’t these courts uphold the decedent’s intent?

Florida‘s Second District Court of Appeal just gave a reminder that, if you’re going to appoint someone other than the preferred person as personal representative of an intestate estate, you’d better have the record show that the preferred person is not fit to serve as personal representative.

In Bowdoin v. Rinnier, the appellate court reversed the circuit court’s appointment of Mary Rinnier, the decedent’s mother, as personal representative.  The problem?  The decedent’s surviving spouse had filed a petition for appointment.