Experienced West Palm Beach probate litigators will tell you  litigation can get ugly but that does not excuse an attorney’s duty to courts and co-counsel to act professionally. Furthermore an attorney has a duty not file frivolous claims or petitions. Has an attorney breached that duty while litigating, you may have a claim for fees as a form of sanctions. Want to learn more? Check out this case out of the Fifth District Court of Appeal where attorneys were sanctioned for filing a frivolous lis pendens.

Are you a beneficiary of a will in West Palm Beach? Does the  will contain a no contest clause? Did you know that West Palm Beach probate courts would not enforce such an agreement? What else do you need to know about no contest clauses in West Palm Beach?

In Florida probate, there are many times when the world of Florida divorce law “collides” with Florida probate.  In this Florida probate commentary, I want to discuss a very specific & limited set of factsinvolving both Florida probate law & divorce law.  What Palm Beach probate attorneys refer to as the Florida dissolution of marriage.  If you are going through a divorce, and one of the parties died after changing a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy, bank account, or IRA or retirement plan —in violation of a Florida divorce court order — listen up.

Are you serving as the personal representative of a  West Palm Beach estate? Has a beneficiary filed a will contest in a county that is inconvenient to you? You may be able totransfer venue to West Palm Beach probate court. Do you know how to figure out the appropriate forum? Do you know what needs to be in your motion to transfer? Experienced West Palm Beach probate litigators know how to get a case into the best forum possible and how to use that forum to their advantage. Want to learn more? Check out this case out of the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

So, maybe you are the beneficiary of dad’s revocable trust, but you are wondering where all of dad’s money went.  Why isn’t there more money in dad’s Florida living trust? Did my sister, who was dad’s Florida power of attorney, mis-use the POA to take dad’s money?  Did my sister, who was dad’s successor trustee of his Florida trust, hide assets from me and not put all the money in the revocable trust?  If my sister says dad made a  $300,000 loan or a gift to her, how does that get proven in a probate litigation trial West Palm Beach?

Are  you the beneficiary of a Florida revocable trust and wonder if the trust has all the money it is supposed to have?  Put another way, if your mom’s revocable trust leaves the trust equally to 4 children, do you think thesuccessor trustee took trust assets before the inheritance split?  Did the successor trustee or Power of Attorney use the POA to transfer assets to himself instead of to the revocable trust which gets split evenly 4 ways?  Consider reading a July 31, 2015 Ohio probate litigation case involving a POA, and a successor trustee who was found to have committed concealment and embezzlement. This case makes you ask: if your brother or sister took money from dad, how do you really tell if it was embezzlement or a gift or a loan?

Do you know what an insane delusion is? In West Palm Beach  the court will not administer a will that was executed on beliefs that no rational person would believe that are not founded on evidence. Did a relative execute a will while under the belief of an insane delusion? You may be able to keep that will out of probate but you will have to act quickly. Do you know how much time you have?

Has your elderly parent executed a will leaving you and your  siblings nothing? Are you concerned that a new spouse has exerted undue influence to get what he or she wants? You may have grounds for a will contest in West Palm Beach but you will need to hurry. Time is of the essence and West Palm Beach probate courts do not reward those who sleep on their rights.

Perhaps your mother is retired in Boca Raton and may be advanced in years. Her Boca Raton probate lawyer created a nice estate plan for mom, who is now married to her 2nd spouse.  Maybe you don’t get along, well, quite well with your step-father, your mom’s husband.   The next thing you know, there is a petition for guardianship filed by your stepfather in the Delray Beach probate court.  What should adult step-children know when your mom’s 2nd husband files for Florida guardianship?  To be clear, we are talking about a Florida guardianship of an adult person, like our mom or dad, not a guardianship Florida of a minor child.

Have you and a spouse agreed to mutual wills?  Are you obligated to follow through per the terms of the contract? Is the West Palm Beach probate court going to enforce that contract? Check out this case out of the Supreme Court of Indiana to learn more about mutual wills.