[1] In other situations, the personal representative may be a guardian or trustee, or other position.
As a fiduciary, a personal representative has the duties of loyalty, candor or honesty, and good faith.
[2] In either case of a deceased estate, a probate court of competent jurisdiction issues a finding of fact, including that a will has or has not been filed, and that an executor or administrator has been appointed.
There are a number of types of personal representatives, including: In the U.S., the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants appointed a Personal Representative (CSRT) to meet with each captive who was still being held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, in August 2004, when the Supreme Court forced the Department of Defense to start convening Combatant Status Review Tribunals.
Such a personal representative is more like a guardian ad litem.