Estate of McKenzie v. Hi Rise Crane, Inc.

326 So. 3d 1161 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)

This case is one which demonstrates the application of the “relation back” doctrine, which may arise in cases when a personal representative for an estate is not appointed promptly. 

In this First District Court of Appeal opinion from 2021, the court analyzed the “relation back doctrine” of Fla. Stat. 733.601, providing that a personal representative’s powers “relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed, occurring before appointment and beneficial to the estate, the same effect as those occurring after appointment.”

The facts were as follows: in January of 2020,…