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Transferring Your Florida Trust Lawsuit to a Different Venue

Uncategorized Aug 5, 2019

What is venue? What does venue have to do with a Florida trust lawsuit or Palm Beach will contest? If you are involved in a probate lawsuit, where do you sue the personal representative or trustee? How do you know if you sued the trustee in a proper venue? Can you transfer a trust dispute from one Florida county to another? What should your probate lawyer know about venue and trust litigation?

What is Venue?

Venue is a legal term for where you can file a lawsuit. In other words, a venue is where actions or a lawsuit can be brought. Florida is the jurisdiction or “forum”, but venue refers to the particular county. For example, some cases can be brought in Palm Beach County, while others can be brought in Broward County.

Where Can a Florida Action Be Brought?

Florida Statute 47.011 provides that “ actions shall be brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located.”

Therefore, in a trust lawsuit, multiple factors will be considered to determine proper venue. Courts may consider where the trustee resides, where the trustee’s principal place of business is, where the Florida trust is being administered, etc.

You should not assume that where the estate money is located is automatically a proper venue. For example, the estate money being located at a bank in Miami-Dade County, doesn’t guarantee that Miami-Dade County is a proper venue in which to sue the trustee.

Why is Venue Important in You Florida Probate Case?

West Palm Beach attorneys know that choosing the proper venue in Florida is very important. For one, improper venue can be grounds for the dismissal or transfer of a probate matter or trust lawsuit.

Secondly, experienced litigators, like the lawyers at Pankauski Hauser, know that the ability to file a case in a specific venue can prove to be very beneficial. This is because. if your probate lawyer has been practicing inheritance law and trust litigation for over twenty-five years in Palm Beach County, he or she has probably become familiar with opposing counsel and the probate judges in Palm Beach County. This can prove to be a big advantage in a probate trial or will contest in Florida.

Can you Transfer Your Florida Trust or Estate Lawsuit to a Different Venue?

Florida trust attorneys know that, sometimes, a case is filed in a venue or county that one of the parties does not agree with. In Certain circumstances, a transfer may be granted.

Florida Statute  47.122 states that “ for the convenience of the parties or witnesses or in the interest of justice, any court of record may transfer any civil action to another court of record in which it might have been brought.”

What Warrants a Transfer of Venue in Florida?

An April 10, 2019 Fourth DCA opinion, Cohen v. Scarnato, discusses venue and when a case can be transferred in Florida. Here, a beneficiary of a Florida trust moved to transfer trust disputes between himself, original trustee, and successor co-trustees from Broward County to Flagler County. The Circuit Court granted this motion but the successor co-trustees appealed.

The appellate court states that “the party seeking transfer must submit affidavits or evidence to show that a change of venue is necessary for the convenience of the parties or witnesses or in the interest of justice.” Furthermore, even after evidence is shown to prove the change necessary, a court may transfer venue only to a court where the action could have initially been filed.

Here, the appellate court explains that the Broward trial court erred in transferring the trust disputes to Flagler County because there was not sufficient evidence to show that a change was necessary for the convenience of the parties or witnesses or in the interest of justice. The beneficiary who moved for the transfer wanted it moved because there was a pending will contest proceeding in Flagler County, which may need to be resolved in order for the trust disputes to be resolved. However, the appellate court did not consider that to be enough to warrant transfer of venue for the trust disputes. Lastly, the trial court erred because they transferred the trust disputes from Broward County to Flagler County without even considering whether the disputes could have been filed in Flagler County initially.