Terms Used In Florida Statutes 744.631

  • Court: means the circuit court. See Florida Statutes 744.102
  • Estate: means income on hand and assets acquired in whole or in part with income. See Florida Statutes 744.604
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Guardian: means any person acting as a fiduciary for a ward's person or the ward's estate, or both. See Florida Statutes 744.604
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Minor: means a person under 18 years of age whose disabilities have not been removed by marriage or otherwise. See Florida Statutes 744.102
  • Property: means both real and personal property or any interest in it and anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Florida Statutes 744.102
  • Ward: means a beneficiary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. See Florida Statutes 744.604

(1) When a guardian of the estate of a minor or an incompetent ward, which guardian has the control or management of any real estate that is the property of such minor or incompetent, deems it necessary or expedient to sell all or part of the real estate, the guardian shall apply, either in term time or in vacation by petition to the judge of the circuit court for the county in which the real estate is situated, for authority to sell all or part of the real estate. If the prayer of the petition appears to the judge to be reasonable and just and financially beneficial to the estate of the ward, the judge may authorize the guardian to sell the real estate described in the petition under such conditions as the interest of the minor or incompetent may, in the opinion of the judge, seem to require.
(2) The authority to sell the real estate described in the petition shall not be granted unless the guardian has given previous notice, published once a week for 4 successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the application is made, of his or her intention to make application to the judge for authority to sell such real estate, the guardian setting forth in the notice the time and place and to what judge the application will be made. If the lands lie in more than one county, the application for such authority shall be made in each county in which the lands lie.
(3) The failure on the part of the guardian to comply with the provisions of this section makes the guardian and the guardian’s bond agents individually responsible for any loss that may accrue to the estate of the ward involved, and is a ground for the immediate removal of such guardian as to his or her functions, but does not discharge the guardian as to his or her liability or discharge the liabilities of his or her sureties.