Levya v. Daniels
Levya v. Daniels , 2013 WL 5313600 (11th Cir. 2013) It is not uncommon for probate and trust cases to involve beneficiaries in one or more jurisdictions and a fiduciary in another. Here, the personal representative was a citizen of Texas but was acting as personal representative of a Florida estate. Two of the beneficiaries sued the personal representative, one from Florida and the other from Colorado. The beneficiaries argued that the district court had diversity jurisdiction, since they were citizens of Florida and Colorado, and the personal representative was a citizen of Texas. The Court held that since the personal representative was being sued in his fiduciary capacity rather than his personal capacity, he was deemed a Florida citizen for purposes of the lawsuit. Thus, the district court properly dismissed the complaint for lack of diversity jurisdiction.