Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Texas law uses the term “personal representative” to refer to the person appointed by the court to administer the estate and to distribute the estate according to the terms of the Will or pursuant to the terms of the intestate succession laws. A personal representative is a “fiduciary”, which means the person is acting in a position of trust for the benefit of others. As a fiduciary, a personal representative is held to a high standard of integrity, ethics and accountability. When a personal representative fails to comply with Texas state and Federal laws that apply to a personal representative’s duties, depending on the circumstances, lawsuits can be filed in both civil and criminal court.

There are a great variety of things that personal representatives can not do, those include:

• Depositing estate funds into a personal account
• Putting estate assets into a personal safe deposit box
• Mixing the assets of one estate with another
• Taking title to estate assets without indicating the capacity as an executor or administrator
• Distributing assets to a beneficiary without prior court approval

If a personal representative engages in any of the above activities, it is considered a “breach of fiduciary duty”