Foreign Property, Divorce, and Florida Probate Proceedings: Do not Assume Anything In Florida, if for some reason your marriage ends, there are some instances where your ex-spouse’s rights to inheritance under your estate plan are automatically severed. In Florida, the ex-spouse is automatically cut out of any estate planning…
Probating the Estate of a Missing Person Even more excruciating than the death of a beloved person is arguably the uncertainty when the beloved person goes missing and his or her body is never recovered. Florida laws contain rules that allow the surviving family members to complete the mourning process,…
What is my Deadline to Contest a Will in Florida? Surprisingly, as astounding 55% of adults in the United States do not have a Will or any other sort of estate plan in place. While planning one’s estate certainly makes matters easier for loved ones after death, problems can arise…
Florida Anti-Lapse Statute When preparing a Will, it is assumed that the beneficiaries that you name will outlive you. If you expect someone to die before you, it would not make sense to leave any of your wealth and assets behind for them. However, unexpected things happen. Unfortunately, testator’s live…
Legal Capacity and Estate Planning – How to Safeguard a Will from Future Litigation or Contests When a loved one grows older, ages and declines, their caretakers’ ever growing to-do list can become overwhelming. After dealing with the basic, everyday needs of an aging family member, it may sometimes be…
Elder abuse: the farmer population as the next potential target Florida is a state well-known for its agriculture. In fact, within the United States, it is safe to presume that most people think that the best oranges come from Florida (we certainly think they do). Agriculture is the second most…
A Will can be challenged by Caveat or Functional equivalent On March 9, 2018, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal held that the functional equivalent of a caveat may serve to properly contest a will.[1] The court observed that the Appellant in the case at issue “filed a pleading styled…
Undue Influence For a Will to be valid, certain conditions must be met. The testator must have legal capacity, be at least eighteen years old, have testamentary intent, and the will must not be a product of undue influence or duress. The first two requirements are usually relatively easy issues…
What is Probate? Probate is a process, which the court supervises, for settling a deceased person’s estate. The process involves identifying assets belonging to the estate, paying the decedent’s debt, and distributing the remainder of the assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries. Costs for the probate proceeding have first priority for…
How to comply with formal requirements of Will execution Florida law places great emphasis on compliance with its statutes regarding execution of wills. This is to assure the authenticity of such an important document profoundly affecting many lives, and prevent fraud and imposition in its execution. The statutory provisions, which…