To appeal an order from a Florida trial court awarding attorneys fees as a sanction, you need to wait til the end of the Florida lawsuit. Most Palm Beach probate litigators know that attorneys fees is an important part of estate lawsuits.  Sometimes, the attorneys fees in a probate lawsuit can approach the amount in controversy.  Probate litigation is expensive in Florida.  I’ve referred to probate attorneys fees or trust litigation attorneys fees as the “X” factor in Palm Beach probate litigation. 

Can a Palm Beach joint bank account with a right of survivorship be used to pay for a person’s Palm Beach guardianship expenses ?  Yes.   EVEN if the joint tenant or joint owner objects ?  Yes.   But what if one of the joint bank account owners dies ?  ——  doesn’t the account belong to the survivor ?     Yes……BUT, the money in the joint account may still be used to pay for guardianship expenses    of the account owner incurred before he  or she  died.

Are you involved in probate litigation in Palm Beach ?  If so, you may have your deposition   taken. Knowing   what to expect at your Palm Beach deposition and knowing how to present yourself are important aspects of your trial strategy.   Your Palm Beach litigator will know all about this. If you saw the recent posts and videos posted online about Justin Bieber, take note. There’s a lot you can learn from that video.  Justin Bieber just had his deposition taken:  on videotape.   If you are involved in a Palm Beach lawsuit, including a Palm Beach probate case, here are some Palm Beach trial pointers and deposition pointers you may wish to consider:

When can you   end a Florida trust   early ?  When can you   terminate a Florida trust earlier than called for  and      distribute all the trust $$$     to the trust beneficiaries right now  ?  Oh yes, and if someone    objects    to the Florida trust ending sooner than expected, how is that reviewed by a Florida appeals court that hears trust appeals ? There is a very recent    Florida trust case   whose legal opinion was just handed down on February 26, 2014.  In Florida,     Florida trustees and trust beneficiary rights are governed by the  Florida Trust Code. 

If you have been sued in a   Florida lawsuit,    you may need to sue someone else who may also be responsible for damages, but who was not named as a defendant in the Florida litigation. Palm Beach   probate   litigators   know this as a “cross claim”.    Cross claims   seek to bring in a   third party defendant    who may be responsible for damages.  Palm Beach Trust Litigators   are familiar with this concept when a Palm Beach Trustee is sued and  trust damages   or   trustee liability    may be the responsiblity of some third party who was involved with the Palm Beach Trust.  Like who ?  Like a :

You’ve heard me say many times before that sometimes estates and trusts do more than just give someone an inheritance.   They also can give you a headache when there is sibling rivalry “played out” in the form of administering an estate or a trust.   Like someone has said: “You never know someone until you share an inheritance with them.”  So here is recent case out of DC that deals with two siblings administering an estate  &  sister who wants to remove her brother as co personal representative of the estate. If you have a sibling who is running a Florida estate or is trustee of a Florida trust, like, perhaps your mom’s revocable living trust, you may want to take note of this case, whose legal opinion was rendered days ago.

There’s nothing like will substitutes, or   non probate assets,   for estate litigators . Once described as a “pour man’s will”, will substitutes are no longer for “poor” persons: they generate as much in Palm Beach probate litigation fees as Boca Raton will contests, Florida revocable trusts and undue influence trials in Delray Beach. And Florida will substitutes —   meant to avoid Florida probate   — hold billions of $$$$ in value.   It’s a bit ironic , because will substitutes, or non probate assets, are “supposed” to be simple,   pay on death   assets. 

Palm Beach guardianship cases can be tough.   After all, a Florida guardianship is a probate matter where a court is being asked to take away someone’s rights .  It may be the right to vote, or to choose where to live, or it may include the power to manage your own property and $$$ and make your own decisions .  Palm Beach Guardianships are serious business because the probate courts or the Florida guardianship courts deal with our parents’, and children’s and our friends’ and family members’ most basic human rights and civil liberties. 

Same sex marriage ban in Texas keeps $$$ and rights away from same sex couples validly married in other states.    Everyone knows that inheritance rights are worth billions and billions of dollars. The Boston College Center on Wealth & Philanthropy has estimated that $41 Trillion will pass from the WWWII generation.   So what do probate, trusts, valuable homes and bank accounts have to do with same sex marriage and a recent Texas federal case?  

Are you in the middle of a probate litigation case in Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Delray Beach ? Are you in the middle of a will contest ? Is dementia an issue? Did mom or dad have the right  mental capacity when they signed the deed or Florida will or Palm Beach trust ?   Maybe you are objecting to the Palm Beach will or have started a will contest.  Or, you are the Palm Beach executor of the estate — the personal representative of the Palm Beach Estate — who is charged with defending the last will against a will challenge.