It is important that the executor of an estate is chosen carefully and is a person who can unbiasedly act in the best interests of the estate. So what happens when the named executor in a will presents a conflict of interest? O.C.G.A. § 53-7-55 allows the court the discretion to deny issuance of or to revoke letters testamentary when good cause, like a conflict of interest, is shown. For examples of conflicts of interest, we will look to the cases of In re: Estate of Moriarty and In re: Estate of Farkas.
In In re: Estate of Moriarty, Catherine Moriarty petitioned to be executor of the estate of her husband, Edward Moriarty. Catherine was named executor in Edward’s will. However, Edward’s daughter, Maureen Weare, filed a caveat and petitioned to have Moriarty disqualified as executor, because Catherine had a conflict of interest with her representation of the estate.
Catherine was not a beneficiary under the terms of the will; however, she did maintain a joint account with Edward which she claimed was payable to her by right of survivorship (i.e. not a part of the estate). After the Court disqualified her as executor, Catherine appealed the decision, stating that “the […] Court erred in ruling that the mere fact that the deceased maintained joint […] accounts with his wife disqualified [her] from service.” However, the Court did not disqualify her because she had a joint account with the Deceased; the Court did so because she claimed funds in those accounts which may have belonged to the estate. Since she was not a beneficiary of the will, it would not be in her best interest to look out for the estate’s best interest by investigating whether the funds belonged to the estate, thus creating a conflict of interest.
In In re: Estate of Farkas, the named executor in the Deceased’s will, Leonard Farkas, was involved in multiple suits regarding the estate and owed money to the estate. The Deceased’s daughter, Lorie, who was named successor executor in the will, successfully petitioned to become executor over Leonard. Leonard was disqualified due to the conflict of interest his suits and debts to the estate presented. The court reasoned “where the personal interests of the representative of an estate conflict […] with the interest of the estate […], such fact may be sufficient grounds for removal.”
If you would like to discuss a potential conflict of interest, removing an executor, or another issue relating to probate, please email me or call my Atlanta probate law firm at (404) 445-7771.
