Fiduciary Fails to Adequately Provide Formal Accounting and Court Finds Her Liable for Nearly the Full Amount as a Result

IMO Estate of Robert N. Gardner C.A. No. 5506-MA (August 13, 2013)

The Master in Chancery ordered a fiduciary to provide the Court with a formal accounting of the handling of estate funds. The Master in Chancery offered the respondent an opportunity to demonstrate that her expenditures had been incurred for the benefit of the estate. In response, the Master in Chancery received a submission consisting of “148 pages of copies of receipts, handwritten notes and receipts, invoices, bank statements, credit card statement, investment account statements, EZ pass statements, utility bills, store receipts, and checks.” The Master found this submission did not constitute the required formal accounting as the Master found that it is not the Court’s responsibility to try to determine where and how moneys were used. As a result, the Master recommended that a personal judgment be entered against the respondent for the amount not clearly addressed in the formal accounting.