Personal liability, loss to estate
Sec. 1. (a) Every personal representative shall be liable for and
chargeable in his accounts with all of the estate of the decedent
which comes into his possession at any time, including all the income
therefrom; but he shall not be accountable for any debts due to the
decedent or other assets of the estate which remain uncollected
without his fault. He shall not be entitled to any profit by the
increase, nor be chargeable with loss by the decrease in value or
destruction without his fault, of any part of the estate.
(b) Every personal representative shall be chargeable in his
accounts with property not a part of the estate which comes into his
hands at any time and shall be liable to the persons entitled thereto,
if:
(1) the property was received, under a duty imposed on him by
law in the capacity of personal representative; or
(2) he has commingled such property with the assets of the
estate.
(c) Every personal representative shall be liable for any loss to the
estate arising from his neglect or unreasonable delay in collecting the
credits or other assets of the estate or in selling, mortgaging or
leasing the property of the estate; for neglect in paying over money
or delivering property of the estate he shall have in his hands; for
failure to account for or to close the estate within the time provided
by this article; for any loss to the estate arising from his
embezzlement or commingling of the assets of the estate with other
property; for loss to the estate through self-dealing; for any loss to
the estate arising from wrongful acts or omissions of his
co-representatives which he could have prevented by the exercise of
ordinary care; and for any other negligent or wilful act or
nonfeasance in his administration of the estate by which loss to the
estate arises.
(Formerly: Acts 1953, c.112, s.1601.) As amended by Acts 1982,
P.L.171, SEC.46.
Last modified: May 27, 2006