75-3-703. General duties -- Relation and liability to persons interested in estate --
Standing to sue.
(1) A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standard of care
applicable to trustees as described by Section 75-7-902. A personal representative is under a
duty to settle and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of any
probated and effective will and this code and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with
the best interests of the estate. He shall use the authority conferred upon him by this code, the
terms of the will, if any, and any order in proceedings to which he is party for the best interests of
successors to the estate.
(2) A personal representative shall not be surcharged for acts of administration or
distribution if the conduct in question was authorized at the time. Subject to other obligations of
administration, an informally probated will is authority to administer and distribute the estate
according to its terms. An order of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in
informal or formal proceedings, is authority to distribute apparently intestate assets to the heirs of
the decedent if, at the time of distribution, the personal representative is not aware of a pending
testacy proceeding, a proceeding to vacate an order entered in an earlier testacy proceeding, a
formal proceeding questioning his appointment or fitness to continue, or a supervised
administration proceeding. Nothing in this section affects the duty of the personal representative
to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of claimants, the surviving
spouse, any minor and dependent children, and any pretermitted child of the decedent as
described elsewhere in this code.
(3) Except as to proceedings which do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal
representative of a decedent domiciled in this state at his death has the same standing to sue and
be sued in the courts of this state and courts of any other jurisdiction as his decedent had
immediately prior to death.
Amended by Chapter 89, 2004 General Session
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Last revised: Thursday, May 28, 2009