What is the statute of limitations for opening an administration of an estate?
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What is the statute of limitations for opening an administration of an estate?
Asked on August 14, 2015 under Estate Planning, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
There are three possible periods in your state:
1) The most common one is four years, in the situation where there was reporting by the trustee (e.g. the executor or administrator), but the reporting was not 100% complete (didn't answer all questions), but even though it wasn't complete, the trustee made or stated he/she would make the full records available. This means that persons of interest (e.g. beneficiaries) have four years to request and go through the records.
2) If the reporting, including the final report was so thorough and complete as to answer any questions about the administration, then the statute of limitations is only 6 months; in this case, there is no reason why it should take much time to figure out if there have been a problem or not.
3) On the other hand, if there was essentially no reporting and records were not readily available, then the statute of limitations is essentially forever, though it looks like 40 years may be the ultimate limit on all possible cases.
Note that the statutory period may start running before the estate is fully administered: it starts when the interested party first became aware of, or reasonably should have become aware of, the breach.
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