Woolf v. Reed
| Decision Date | 09 September 1980 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 79-479,79-480 and 79-505,s. 79-479 |
| Citation | 389 So.2d 1026 |
| Parties | Shirley WOOLF, Appellant, v. David REED et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Sibley, Giblin, Levenson & Glaser, Thomas E. Lee, Jr., Miami, for appellant.
Robert A. Ginsburg, County Atty. and Murray A. Greenberg and Roy Wood, Asst. County Attys., Rafael K. Yunes, Miami Beach, Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole and Mark V. Silverio and Roland C. Goss, Miami, Smith, Mandler, Smith, Werner, Jacobowitz & Fried, Miami Beach, for appellees.
Steel, Hector & Davis, Miami, for Dade County Bar Assn., as amicus curiae.
Before HENDRY, BASKIN and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.
We review the appointment by the circuit court of an administrator ad litem in the probate of Pat B. Elbert's estate.
A short review of the facts is in order.
Pat Elbert, until her death in 1974, acted as the executrix of her father's estate; appellant was her legal counsel in that undertaking. Upon the death of Pat Elbert, Sun Bank was appointed administrator of the father's estate, and appellant's connection with the father's estate ended.
Appellant was a nominated trustee under the will of Pat Elbert; moreover, she served as attorney for the personal representative of the Pat Elbert estate.
Records of administration kept for the father's estate disclosed an apparent indebtedness to that estate from the Pat Elbert estate. The personal representative of Pat's estate, Patricia Byrne, negotiated a compromise and settlement between the two estates which she submitted to the court, in the form of a settlement stipulation, for approval. Thereafter, Ms. Byrne informed the court of her discovery that appellant had obtained from the father's estate a release from liability to that estate, negotiated at some cost to appellant.
Appellee Reed was the nominated co-trustee, with appellant, of a trust established in the Pat Elbert will, to be funded from her estate. He has resigned that position. It is he who first requested the appointment of an administrator ad litem-a request subsequently joined in by the University of Miami, which holds certain remainder interests in the trust, and by the Dade County Bar Association, as amicus curiae. Appellees contend that the Pat Elbert estate may have a claim against appellant for all or part of the funds in question, and that appointment of an administrator ad litem is necessary to properly protect the estate's interests.
Appellee's request culminated in the appointment of an administrator ad litem with the authority to ". . . determine the nature and extent, if any, of the liability of SHIRLEY WOOLF, to the (Pat Elbert) Estate and/or its beneficiaries, arising out of the administration of the ROBERT G. ELBERT (the father's) ESTATE."
Appellant contends that the appointment of an administrator ad litem is improper without a prior finding that an acting administrator has engaged in misconduct, or is incapable of protecting the estate's interests in the matter for which the appointment is made. Moreover, appellant urges that the authority with which the administrator ad litem was clothed by the court was excessive.
We dispose of appellant's first contention by reference to the language of Fla.R.P. & G.P. 5.120(a):
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Estate of Bierman, In re
...until the parties can properly litigate their positions and the court can adjudicate their rights in the estate. But see Woolf v. Reed, 389 So.2d 1026 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Sine v. Davidson, 530 So.2d 506 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); and In re Estate of Cordiner, 458 So.2d 418, 419 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) ......
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May v. Illinois Nat. Ins. Co.
...a personal representative, with each person being responsible for administering different aspects of an estate. See Woolf v. Reed, 389 So.2d 1026, 1028 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (stating that an administrator ad litem "becomes solely responsible to the estate for the administration of that portion......
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Lackner v. Central Florida Investments
...which held that a court cannot delegate the determination of the amount of restitution to a probation supervisor, and Woolf v. Reed, 389 So.2d 1026 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), which held that a court cannot delegate its judicial authority to an administrator ad litem. If a trial court cannot delega......
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Tatlici v. Tatlici
... ... continues to be responsible for the administration of all ... other aspects of the estate's business." Woolf ... v. Reed, 389 So.2d 1026, 1028 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). Thus, ... as administrator ad litem, appellant had authority to file ... suit ... ...