§ 30.1-18-03 — (3-703) General duties - Relation and liability to persons interested in estate - Standing to sue

North Dakota § 30.1-18-03

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 30.1: Uniform Probate Code
• Ch. 30.1-18: Powers and Duties of Personal Representatives

Text

estate - Standing to sue.
1. A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standards of care
applicable to trustees. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute
the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and effective
will and this title, and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best
interests of the estate. The personal representative shall use the authority conferred
upon the personal representative by this title, the terms of the will, if any, and any order
in proceedings to which the personal representative is party for the best interests of
successors to the estate.
2. A personal representative may 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 authorizes a personal
representative to administer and distribute the estate according to its terms. An order
of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in informal or formal
proceedings, authorizes the personal representative to distribute apparently intestate
assets to the heirs of the decedent 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. This section does not affect the duty of the personal
representative to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of
claimants whose claims have been allowed, the surviving spouse, any minor and
dependent children, and any pretermitted child of the decedent as described in this
title.
3. Except as to proceedings which do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal
representative of a decedent domiciled in this state at the decedent's death has the
same standing to sue and be sued in the courts of this state and the courts of any
other jurisdiction as the decedent had immediately prior to death.