Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Re: Co-trustees

A trustee, or co-trustee, is in charge of overseeing a "trust." A trust can be part of an estate. It sounds as though the other person is in charge of the estate itself. That person, the personal representative, has the authority to make decisions for the estate. You only have partial authority to make decisions for the particular trust of which you are a co-trustee. Hope this helps.

Re: Co-trustees

I understand you were named co-trustee under the will, but I am not sure if you have been appointed co-trustee (or rather co-personal representative) by the probate court. It is an important point because only someone appointed by the court will have actual authority to act on behalf of the estate. In addition, if the court has appointed a personal representative then the estate has an attorney who can assist with questions such as the one you pose. If probate has been opened talk to the attorney retained by the estate, if probate has not been opened, then that is your first task. The court will determine, based on the information they have, who has what authority.