Florida Probate
Why Unclaimed Property Searches Need To Be On Your Probate Checklist
In Bartsch v. Costello, 2015 WL 3759702, James Bartsch died in 2002 and was survived by a spouse and two children, one of which was from a prior marriage (“Daughter”). Bartsch’s death certificate incorrectly listed him as divorced and his wife, Agnes, did not have the...
Another Reason to Keep Harmony in the Home 🙂
Generally under Section 732.802 of the Florida Statutes (the “Slayer Statute”) if someone murders another person, the murderer can NOT inherit from the person they murdered. That makes sense but what happens when the murdered person left assets to the murderer’s...
Paper…A Relic of the Past? Yes… At Least As To Most Court Filings…
If you have a claim against a decedent’s estate, then under Section 733.702(1) of the Florida Statutes such claim MUST be filed within the later of 3 months after publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days after receipt of the notice to creditors. Electronic...
Co-personal representatives or co-trustees.. Good idea?
Most of my clients are very sensitive to their children’s feelings and want to treat all of them equally. While that may be a great idea as to the distributions under a trust or a will (or it may not depending on the circumstances), the idea of joint trustees or...
A New Will and Revoking Your Old Trust… The Devil is in the Details!
Many individuals have created revocable trusts that no longer meet their needs or they do not want a trust. They do not care about “avoiding” probate and some actually want court supervision! What happens if an old revocable trust is not properly revoked or, having...
What’s New in 2015?
In the 2015 session, the Florida legislature passed some very important bills applicable to guardianships, health care surrogates, minors, estate planning and probate. Here are a few of those with links to the actual bills: 1. HB 5, which has been signed by the...
An Intersection of Litigation and Probate… Do Not Crash!
A recent case indicates how litigation and probate often intersect. If you or your attorney do not understand litigation procedural rules, then you could lose valuable rights. In Sudman v. O’Brien, Theresa Z. Sudman (“Theresa”) lost her right to object to a court...
Is Your Claim Filed Against the Estate Timely?
The time period for filing a claim against an estate is set forth in the probate code. and if you miss the deadline that you can be barred forever from filing a claim against an estate. Section 733.2121 of the Florida Statutes requires that the personal representative...
Questioning Language of Crescenzo Case…
As you know, last week, this author published a blog on the Crescenzo case. A well, known, very respected probate and trust litigator and good friend, Andrew B. Sasso, responded to me with some thoughts. As this author is not a litigator, clarifications are always...
Beneficiary Designation Divorce Legislation Passed
Under current law, provisions of a will or trust which affect the spouse are void upon divorce or annulment of the marriage. For example, if W (former wife) received anything under H’s (husband) will or trust, W would be treated as predeceasing H subsequent to the...