In Re: R. Scott Gardner

Laura Denvir Stith, Judge Section 473.153, 1 governing payment of personal representative fees, requires personal representatives to obtain prior approval from the probate division to be paid all or part of their personal representative fees before final settlement. Here, the probate division approved early payment of only part of R. Scott Gardner's personal representative fee request and specifically directed the remainder of his fees would be paid only at final settlement. Mr. Gardner nonetheless paid himself most of the remainder of his fees prior to final settlement, in violation of the…