A Caffeine Law breakdown of the line every estate fight seems to reach: which bills the estate has to pay back to the person in charge, and which ones are that person's own problem. When a fiduciary hands over a list of "expenses" that eats up most of the inheritance, the sorting matters. General information, not a comment on any specific case.

Ava asked her husband, attorney Michael Benavides, how to tell a legitimate estate expense from a personal one.

Ava: Can an executor or trustee really pay themselves back out of the estate?

Michael, Esq.: Yes - but only for expenses that were reasonable, necessary, and actually for the benefit of the estate. A fiduciary who advances real administration costs is entitled to reimbursement. The catch is the standard: the expense has to serve the estate and all its beneficiaries, not the person who paid it. "I spent it" is not the test. "It was a reasonable, necessary cost of preserving or administering the estate" is the test - and the fiduciary has to be able to show it.

Ava: What kinds of expenses are usually legitimate?

Michael, Esq.: Costs that genuinely preserve and settle the estate: property taxes, homeowner's insurance, utilities needed to keep a property safe and marketable, necessary repairs that protect the asset (a failing roof, a burst pipe), reasonable maintenance, appraisal and sale costs, court filing fees, and the reasonable fees of the attorney and the fiduciary as allowed by law. Mortgage payments can be reimbursable where they protect the estate's equity from foreclosure - but that gets complicated when the fiduciary is also living in the home, because then the payment is partly buying their own housing.

Ava: And what usually is NOT a legitimate estate expense?

Michael, Esq.: Anything that mainly benefits the fiduciary personally. Personal living expenses. Personal travel - flights back and forth to where the fiduciary chooses to live are usually a personal cost, not an estate one. The fiduciary's own credit-card bills. Costs of the occupant's household, including pets. "Upgrades" that suit the person living there rather than preserving value for sale. The label does not control - calling a personal expense "necessary for the property" does not make it so.

Ava: They say they took out a big loan for "necessary renovations." Does the estate owe that?

Michael, Esq.: Only to the extent the work was genuinely necessary to preserve or reasonably prepare the asset - and only if it is properly documented. There is a real difference between necessary repairs (fixing what would otherwise cause loss) and discretionary improvements (nicer finishes that mostly benefited the occupant). A fiduciary who borrows against the estate or spends heavily on renovations should expect to justify each item: what it was, why it was necessary, what it cost, and how it benefited the estate rather than the person living there. Vague, lump-sum "renovation" claims are exactly what an accounting is supposed to break apart.

Ava: Who has to prove the expenses were legitimate - me or them?

Michael, Esq.: The fiduciary. The person who controlled the money and is asking to be reimbursed carries the burden of showing that each expense was proper, reasonable, and for the estate's benefit - with records. Receipts, invoices, bank statements, and a clear itemized accounting are how that is done. When a fiduciary cannot document a claimed expense, or the "records" are just their own say-so, a court can disallow it. A beneficiary does not have to prove a negative; the fiduciary has to prove the charge.

Ava: What happens to expenses the court decides were personal?

Michael, Esq.: They get disallowed and, if the fiduciary already took the money, they can be surcharged - ordered to repay the estate. Under Probate Code section 9601, a personal representative who breaches a duty is chargeable with the resulting loss to the estate, with interest, and with any profit they made through the breach. So charging personal expenses to the estate is not a free roll: if it does not hold up, it comes back out of the fiduciary's share or out of their pocket, and the corrected total is what gets divided among the beneficiaries.

Ava: How does a beneficiary actually get these expenses examined?

Michael, Esq.: Through the accounting and, if needed, the court. The account should present the expenses in itemized schedules (the format required by Probate Code section 1060 and following). A beneficiary can review it, ask for backup documentation, and file objections to specific charges before the court settles the account. Where the numbers are murky or the reimbursements are large, a more detailed or forensic review of the records may be warranted. The point is to move from a vague total to a line-by-line examination.

Ava: Bottom line?

Michael, Esq.: The estate repays reasonable, necessary, documented costs of preserving and administering it - not the fiduciary's personal life. Taxes, insurance, and necessary repairs, yes; personal travel, personal debts, and the occupant's household costs, generally no. The fiduciary has to prove each expense, and personal charges that slipped into the account can be disallowed and surcharged. If a wall of "expenses" is swallowing your inheritance, those charges deserve a close, itemized look before anyone signs off.

How Caffeine Law / Michael Benavides Legal Can Help

If a fiduciary's claimed expenses are eating up an estate or trust, we can scrutinize the accounting line by line, demand documentation, and object to improper charges before the court approves them. Call or text 707-362-4166 for a free, confidential review.

Caffeine Law - Michael Benavides Legal | Michael Benavides, Esq., CA Bar No. 270714 | Sacramento, Stockton & Modesto | call/text 707-362-4166 | attorneymichaelbenavides.com

Attorney advertising. Ava is an editorial brand voice, not an attorney; only Michael Benavides, Esq. (CA Bar No. 270714) provides legal analysis. General legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading this. California rules on fiduciary reimbursement, accounting contents (Prob. Code sec. 1060 et seq.), and surcharge for breach of duty (Prob. Code sec. 9601) are fact-specific and may change; confirm current law and consult an attorney about your situation. Outcomes vary by facts and jurisdiction.