The West Palm Beach probate court will respect most things you put in your will. But do you know about one major set of rules that apply to a family home that claims homestead exemptions? You may have aninvalid will and not even know it if you used a multi-state online legal documents website and did not consider the Florida homestead rules regarding to wills.
The Palm Beach appeals court, Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal, issued an importantbusiness law opinion on September 2, 2015 in the case of Strazzulla v. Riverside Banking Company. If you are a business lawyer, commercial litigator, or if you sit on aFlorida corporation’s board of directors, you should consider reading this Indian River County case which made it to the 4th DCA in West Palm Beach.
Often times in a trust dispute issues carry over from a prior claim against a trustee or trust. Is the other side trying to revive old issues that you already won in West Palm Beach probate court? Chances are these claims are barred by a judicial doctrine known as claim preclusion. If you want to learn how to throw out the old settled matters in your trust dispute you may want to check out this case that was just filed by the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
If you serve on the board of directors for a Florida company, or if you are a shareholder in a Florida corporation, you should consider reading a September 2, 2015 ruling from the Palm Beach appeals court on an important Florida business litigation lawsuit. Directors of Florida corporations should understand how to defend a business lawsuit or a shareholder lawsuitin Florida and understand the different types of harms which shareholders may allege. Likewise, shareholders of Florida corporations, at least in the 4th District Court of Appeal, have a guidepost for suing a Florida corporation or directors of that Florida company. This is a case which your corporate litigation law firm West Palm Beach will want to read.
West Palm Beach promises those in a will contest a right to a jury trial. That being said alternative dispute resolution is very “in vogue” right now. Have you considered using a mediator or arbitrator to settle your disputes? What are the pros and cons of doing so? To learn more you may want to check out this recent case from West Palm Beach.
Are you about to go to trial in West Palm Beach to contest the will of a relative? You may need an expert witness to rebut the other side’s case. You also are going to have to rebut their expert, and there are more than one way to skin a cat. Check out this recent case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeal where an expert witness’ financial information was opened up on appeal.
In West Palm Beach the Courts have a liberal stance towards discovery of non-privileged material. In a will contest you may find that you also need to access confidential documents about the testator’s health, caretakers misdeeds and other medical reports. You may be able to overcome confidentiality and get these documents if you know how. Check out this recent case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeal on obtaining confidential documents.
If you are in the middle of a Florida probate lawsuit such as a will contest or perhaps objecting to the Palm Beach probate, you are probably concerned about probate attorneys fees. Why? Well, you may or may not have your estate litigator taking your case on a contingency fee for this Florida probate lawsuit. Or, if you lose your inheritance lawsuit Palm Beach, you are concerned thatthe other side will seek attorneys fees and costs from you under the Florida Probate Codeor maybe the Florida Trust Code. So what can you learn about Florida attorneys fees in probate matters from two very recent Florida court opinions issued within 24 hours of each other and within the last 2 days? Well, neither of these opinions are per se 100% probate attorneys fee cases, but they are instructive and helpful if you want to learn more about attorneys fees issues in the estate litigation Florida context.
Did you know that you might be able to motion the West Palm Beach probate court to disqualify opposing counsel? If the other side has retained the family attorney in a West Palm Beach will contest, that lawyer may know privileged information about you! If you want to make sure there are no unfair advantages, consider getting the other side disqualified.
Do you know how to revoke your will in West Palm Beach? It is not uncommon to find that your estate plan changes over the years. Every State has different rules on how to revoke or amend a will so be careful. Check out these three things to know about amending a will in West Palm Beach!