Sec. 3703.

(1) A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standard of care applicable to a trustee as described by section 7803. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute the decedent's estate in accordance with the terms of a probated and effective will and this act, and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate. The personal representative shall use the authority conferred by this act, the terms of the will, if any, and an order in a proceeding to which the personal representative is party for the best interests of claimants whose claims have been allowed and 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 the will's terms. Whether issued in an informal or formal proceeding, an order of appointment of a personal representative is authority to distribute apparently intestate property to the decedent's heirs 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 the personal representative's appointment or fitness to continue, or a supervised administration proceeding. Nothing in this section affects the personal representative's duty to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of a claimant whose claim has been allowed, the surviving spouse, a minor or dependent child, or a pretermitted child of the decedent as described elsewhere in this act.

(3) Except as to a proceeding that does not survive the decedent's death, a personal representative of a decedent domiciled in this state at death has the same standing to sue and be sued in the courts of this state and the courts of another jurisdiction as the decedent had immediately prior to death.

(4) The personal representative shall keep each presumptive distributee informed of the estate settlement. Until a beneficiary's share is fully distributed, the personal representative shall annually, and upon completion of the estate settlement, account to each beneficiary by supplying a statement of the activities of the estate and of the personal representative, specifying all receipts and disbursements and identifying property belonging to the estate.

History: 1998, Act 386, Eff. Apr. 1, 2000 ;-- Am. 2009, Act 46, Eff. Apr. 1, 2010 Popular Name: EPIC