Category Archives: Wills Probate
What to do When the Probate Beneficiary is Missing
Florida’s probate process may seem long, arduous, and downright tedious. However, probate serves many critical purposes. The personal representative’s tasks of inventorying assets, settling debts, and notifying beneficiaries of their inheritances are chief among them, and can sometimes be pretty straightforward tasks. However, complications may arise if personal representatives cannot locate one or more… Read More »
Probate for Foreign Nationals with Florida Assets
Estate planning often feels a little overwhelming at the best of times – but what about when you do not have your full U.S. citizenship? It’s understandable that resident aliens owning property in the State of Florida may not know where to start or what rules and regulations apply to them when creating an… Read More »
How to Close a Florida Probate Estate
As a personal representative tasked with administering a Florida estate, you’ve already been on quite the journey – gathering assets, paying creditors, and handling the myriad duties that come along with estate administration. Now, you’ve arrived at the final stage of your journey: officially closing out the probate estate. This last phase of estate… Read More »
Tips for Estate Planning in Blended Families
There are many ways to be a family – especially in modern times. A family might be a “traditional” nuclear family, but very often a family will include second (or subsequent) marriages, step-children, half siblings, and more. Ensuring that all of your loved ones are accounted for as you desire in your estate planning… Read More »
Atlanta Case Shines a Light on Probate Fraud
Probate litigation often revolves around loved ones or creditors fighting over the contents of an estate. However, litigation can also arise when the documents themselves are in question. Probate fraud and forgery can stop intended beneficiaries from receiving the inheritance that was always supposed to go to them. This was recently played out, unfortunately,… Read More »
Does a Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Warrant Punitive Damages?
It depends! In 2022 Florida’s Rules of Appellate Procedure changed in a way that allows district courts of appeal to review the decisions to grant or deny the ability to amend a claim in order to add a claim for punitive damages by interlocutory appeal. The change in the law led to new appellate… Read More »
Ancillary Probate Administration in Florida
Florida is one of the most popular places in the country to retire. The favorable tax laws and absence of harsh winters draw people from all walks of life, and many own properties in more than one state. Vacation homes and seasonal condos are amazing investment opportunities that many retirees take advantage of, while… Read More »
What is Trust Accounting?
Trust accounting is a crucial aspect of managing a trust. This crucial accounting process ensures that the trust assets are reported, managed, and distributed transparently. The importance of this task cannot be understated, so it is critical that personal representatives understand the issue. In Florida, specific rules and regulations have been developed to govern… Read More »
Can an Executor Take from the Estate?
There are a lot of different aspects to working an estate through the Florida probate process. One issue that can arise is an Executor of an estate taking money from the estate. But – is it legal to do that? Is this a legitimate action, tied to reasonable fees, perhaps…or is it something more?… Read More »
What is Revocation of Probate?
We have all heard about challenges to a last will and testament, or the validity of a will being in question. “Revocation of probate” refers to the action of vacating a previous court order to admit a last will and testament into probate. This article will review some of the most important items to… Read More »