Florida SB 1606: Insurance Administration

Bill Text

1606 
Serving as Personal Representative after a Felony Conviction 
2026-01-09T07:08:22Z 
Creating an exception to allow a person convicted of a felony who is not currently incarcerated to serve as a personal representative if they have a specified relationship to the deceased in certain circumstances; requiring a court to consider certain criteria when determining if such person may serve as a personal representative, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1606 

 By Senator Jones 

 34-01329A-26 20261606__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to serving as personal representative 
 3 after a felony conviction; amending s. 733.303, F.S.; 
 4 creating an exception to allow a person convicted of a 
 5 felony who is not currently incarcerated to serve as a 
 6 personal representative if they have a specified 
 7 relationship to the deceased in certain circumstances; 
 8 requiring a court to consider certain criteria when 
 9 determining if such person may serve as a personal 
 10 representative; providing applicability; providing an 
 11 effective date. 
 12 
 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 14 
 15 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 
 16 733.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
 17 733.303 Persons not qualified.— 
 18 (1) A person is not qualified to act as a personal 
 19 representative if the person: 
 20 (a)1. Has been convicted of a felony, unless the person is 
 21 a parent, spouse, child, or grandchild of the decedent who is 
 22 not currently incarcerated and there are no other family members 
 23 of the same degree of consanguinity to serve. 
 24 2. If a family member of a decedent petitions to be 
 25 appointed as personal representative and has a felony 
 26 conviction, the court must make the determination to grant the 
 27 petition pursuant to s. 4, Art. VI of the State Constitution. In 
 28 making its determination, the court shall consider the following 
 29 criteria to evaluate the petitioner’s ability to serve as 
 30 personal representative: 
 31 a. Whether the decedent was the victim of the felony for 
 32 which the petitioner was convicted. 
 33 b. Whether the petitioner was convicted for a violation of 
 34 chapters 812 or 817 or a crime involving dishonesty, theft, or 
 35 fraud. 
 36 c. The nature and circumstances of the offense committed by 
 37 the petitioner. 
 38 d. The timing of the offense, including the petitioner’s 
 39 age at the time of the offense and, if applicable, the length of 
 40 time since the petitioner was released from incarceration. 
 41 e. Any concerns of interested parties. 
 42 f. Evidence of the petitioner’s rehabilitation. 
 43 g. Whether the petitioner’s civil rights have been 
 44 restored. 
 45 h. The relationship of the decedent and petitioner at the 
 46 time of the decedent’s death and for at least 2 years prior. 
 47 3. The court may use any of the criteria under subparagraph 
 48 2. when determining if a petition will be granted. 
 49 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.