DEVASTAVIT

Latin: He has wasted. The act of an executor or administrator in wasting the goods of the deceased; mismanagement of the estate by which a loss occurs ; a breach of trust or misappropriation of assets held in a fiduciary character; any violation or neglect of duty by an executor or administrator, involving loss to the decedent’s estate, which makes him personally responsible to heirs, creditors, or legatees. Also, if plaintiff, in an action against an executor or administrator, has obtained judgment, the usual execution runs de bonis teetatoris; but, if the sheriff returns to such a writ nulla bona testatoris nec propria, the plaintiff may, forthwith, upon this return, sue out an execution against the property or person of the executor or administrator, in as full a manner as in an action against him, sued in his own right Such a return is called a “devastavit” Brown.