Personal representative

In common law jurisdictions, a personal representative, or legal personal representative, is a person appointed by a court to administer the estate of another person. If the estate is that of a deceased person, the personal representative is an executor where the deceased left a will, or an administrator where the estate is intestate. In other situations the role may be filled by a guardian, a trustee or another position. As a fiduciary, a personal representative owes duties of loyalty, candor or honesty, and good faith, and in the United States the punctilio of honor, the highest standard of honor, is the level of scrupulousness a fiduciary must observe. In a deceased estate, a probate court makes a finding of fact that a will has or has not been filed and that an executor or administrator has been appointed. The documents it issues, often called letters testamentary, letters of administration or letters of representation, are usually the only authority the person needs to handle banking, trading, real estate and other dealings in the name of the estate.