Unfortunately I have had more than one blog about the many failings of  the  Florida Guardianship system. From being under funded to the resultant being understaffed and making poor judgments, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Earlier this month I mentioned several proposed bills in the Florida Legislate. Well today I am happy to mention the specifics of one of these cases and a few ways its going to help a tragic case you may have read about if you are in Sarasota. Julie Ferguson still owes about 5,000 dollars to Florida attorneys she hired to unsuccessfully secure guardianship of her 80 year old mother, Marise London. Her sister is a convicted felon who tried to get durable power of attorney from the older woman who lives in Sarasota Florida most agree this could have led to a complete liquidation of assets. Instead of getting the guardianship that she legally requested, London’s daily life is now managed by professional guardians according to a Florida probate decision issued in 2013. Now a multi million dollar company is a guardian for this poor woman’s mother and she is still paying attorneys for results she did not get. To this day she is still fighting, is there any hope for Ms. Ferguson and her mother, maybe. The Florida Senate is currently discussing a bill endorsed by committee vote, last week to provide new protections for elderly Floridians who end up under a guardian supervision because of mental illness or incapacitate!  Experts says […]

Palm Beach Guardianships of parents, adults and grandparents seem to be, for good or for ill, a growth area.  Filing for plenary guardianships Florida appears to be on the rise.  Adult children often seek to either protect a parent or loved one by filing a guardianship petition in the probate Palm Beach, or they seek to control mom or dad and their money. If you are involved in a guardianship Delray Beach of your mom or dad in Palm Beach or Florida, you may want to read this new guardianship legislation. Florida Senate bill 1226, an act relating to guardianship; (March, 2015).

Involved in a Palm Beach guardianship matter?   Did a guardian get appointed but you want the guardian removed?  Then you need to read this March 18, 2015 guardianship appeal opinion from the West Palm BeachFlorida appeals court which rules on probate & guardianship appeals, including the removal of a Palm Beach guardian.

In the news you may have noticed that Congressman Aaron Schock resigned amid controversy of misspending. From remodeling his office to match the hit show “Downton Abbey”or fromcharging taxpayers for 170,000 miles on his car when politico reported that it was sold by him with only 80,000 miles. Not to mention his famous instagram. Now I am sure you are asking what does this have to do with Florida Probate? Well Congressman Schock was theyoungest congressman ever, sworn in at age 27. Maybe his follies can help you make some reconsiderations in appointing Personal Representative’s and Trustees.

Obviously not everyone in the world is responsible with money, and South Florida   can be a hot bed for extreme spending – that yacht isn’t going to build itself. Even those who are moneywise can run into bad stretch of financial in life which could cause them financial hardship. So when planning your estate, you should think about how you are leaving a large sum of money to someone who can’t handle it. For those beneficiaries for whom you have concerns, a spendthrift trust may be an innovative way to protect the money and them.

Are you involved in a will contest? Will challenge in Palm Beach?  If so, you want to read this March 18, 2015 legal opinion from Palm Beach’s 4th District Court of Appeal.

Florida has people from all over the world and South Florida even more so than the rest of the country. Because of that, immigration problems are even more common than most of the United States. One question I get all the time as an experienced Palm Beach Probate attorney is can I still inherit and devise property despite immigration concerns. Rest easy my friend and read up.

Perhaps you have not heard but the Estate of Marvin Gaye and his living  relatives won a great victory against T.I., Pharell Williams and Robin Thicke for allegedly stealing parts of Gaye’s music to write the smash hit “Blurred Lines.” It should come as no surprise that an estate has a right to bring a law suit, nor should it surprise anyone that a celebrity estate could be mismanaged to the point where these type of suits are necessary to keep income going. The Estate has other songs on the chopping block too saying that William’s song “Happy” is peculiarly similar to “Aint that Peculiar”

With all the buzz surrounding Netanyahu (the now re-elected Prime Minister of Israel) and his speech in front of Congress it got me thinking about various ways litigants interfere with their relative’s wills. What does Netanyahu’s speech have in common with the standard Palm Beach Probate Case? The similarities may surprise you. 

Guardianship in Florida is a mechanism to protect those who are not   mentally or physically able to take care of themselves. I have blogged previously about some of the various failings of the Florida guardianship system. A case out of the  Fifth District in California shows these issues appear throughout the country. A woman lost her appeal to have a probate court’s order struck which appointed another woman as guardian of her daughter.