Florida Statute 733.504
“Removal of personal representative; causes for removal”
What it means
Florida courts do not remove a personal representative for being unpopular — they remove for cause, and §733.504 is the list. A PR who was not qualified to act at the time of appointment must be removed and the letters revoked.
Beyond that, the statute gives 12 causes for removal: adjudicated incapacity, physical or mental inability to perform the duties, failure to comply with any order of the court, failure to account for the sale of property or to produce estate assets when required, wasting or maladministration of the estate, failure to give a required bond, conviction of a felony, insolvency of a corporate PR, holding or acquiring adverse interests that may interfere with the administration, revocation of the will that authorized the appointment, moving domicile out of Florida when residence was required, and no longer being entitled to appointment.
- Removal is mandatory if the personal representative was not qualified to act when appointed.
- The 12 causes include failure to comply with a court order, failure to account, wasting or maladministration, and felony conviction.
- Adverse or conflicting interests that may interfere with administration are a cause — but a spouse claiming the elective share, family allowance, or exemptions is expressly protected.
- Moving domicile out of Florida is a cause only if Florida residence was a requirement of the initial appointment.
- Removal is in addition to any other penalties prescribed by law — it does not replace liability.
How it plays out
Removal petitions we file usually stack two or three causes from this list: an ignored court order, an inventory or accounting that never appeared, and assets nobody can locate. The statute's list is what the judge reads from — a beneficiary who is merely angry does not fit it, but a PR who has stopped answering the court usually fits several causes at once. We plead the specific subsections, because the closed list is the whole argument.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 733.504 does real work:
Related sections
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