What if Florida executor/personal representative lives in another state?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Alexis, when people pass away in central Florida and we do a probate for them, often, the beneficiaries, whether it's one of the children, usually, they don't live in the central Florida. They live in a distant county, city, state, even.

Attorney Alexis Richards: I have quite a few clients right now, of ours, that are out of state.

Tom: People are concerned, "Hey, can I do this from out of state?" The good news is that everything that we do when we're doing a probate in state for people, we can send it to them, they can sign it wherever they happen to be, and they can send it back to us.

Alexis: With all the technology, with electronic signing and everything, it makes it very easy for us to communicate and get things done without personal representatives.

Tom: If we have to go to court, it's we, the lawyers, have to go to court. The personal representative, the kids, don't have to go to court.

Alexis: No, we handle all that for the client.

Tom: Now, that's the legal aspect of this, but from a practical point of view, the executor is going to be in charge of cleaning out mom and dad's house and getting the stuff given away, or state sales, otherwise emptying out the house, and then working with a realtor to get the house sold. That's usually what happens. That does require they spend some time here in the central Florida area.

Alexis: Yes, they do. I always try and coordinate it with them where I can meet them in person, if I don't get to see them initially. They're really good about getting things done.

Tom: The Florida statutes provides for an executor fee, a fee to the personal representative, to be equal to 3% of the value of the estate. Over the years, I've had people ask me, "Tom, I live in New Hampshire. I got to travel down here to take care of Mom's house and empty it out, meet with a realtor. Can I recoup my travel expenses as well?" I always tell them, "Yes, that's not a problem."

Tom: When we do a probate estate, at the end of it, we always petition for fees and expenses, and we just put that on there.

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