4 Florida Estate Pointers Heirs & Palm Beach Probate Beneficiaries Should Know About Florida Will Contests: Palm Beach Will Challenge FAQ’s

Involved in a Palm Beach will contest or maybe a Florida will challenge?  If so, here are 4 things to consider about will challenges in Palm Beach.  Put another way, if you are involved in a will contest Florida, here are some pointers or perspectives on probate litigation West Palm Beach that you might also think of as frequently asked questions about probate Florida. Surviving spouse or widow to a Florida probate?  Maybe a stepson or step daughter is objecting to the probate or your inheritance from the Palm Beach estate?  Well, then, even if you are not the one filing the will contest, you may want to read this commentary on Palm Beach probateand probate litigation Palm Beach County.

4 Pointers on Palm Beach Probate Will Contests

1. Letters don’t work: get ready for your Palm Beach challenge to the will trial.  Myth #1:  “can’t you just write a letter for me?”  doesn’t protect a dis-inherited beneficiary.    If you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate and you got cut out of your inheritance, or dis-inherited, you may be inclined to challenge the Florida probate.  That means you to first find out where the probate is going on and then object.  Did you get notice of the estate proceeding, the probate process?  If you were not listed in the Florida will, you may not have.  Do you know how to go in to the Florida estate if they did not tell you about it? Do you know how to deal with the estate executor or personal representative of the will that you got cut out of?  Letters to the executor or his or her lawyer don’t work. You have to file the correct legal documents with the probate court to protect your rights.  Get in the game and get involved.  Or you may lose any right to object to probate or challenge the Florida will.
2. Widows win. Even if you object to a will in Florida, or create a probate contest, get ready to deal with the rights of the widow.  Understand that Florida probate law gives very valuable and special rights to a widow.  If  there is a surviving spouse like a husband or wife who survives, and is now a widow or widower, that person is guaranteed a Florida inheritance in the probate.   Why? Because the Florida Probate Code says so.  A surviving spouse like  a widow gets an automatic 30-50% of the estate even if that spouse is not in the will.  Under certain circumstances, if there is no will, what they call in Florida intestacy, the spouse may inherit 100% of the estate.  The only exception is if there was a valid prenup, prenuptial agreement or proper waiver of inheritance rights Florida.
3. Probate lawyer fees: the X Factor. Be mindful that if you lose your will contest, you can get hit with attorneys fees and costs: which will be a very large bill.  That’s right, if you lose your will challenge Florida, or the probate court does not let you object to the Florida will, you can be responsible for paying the other side’s legal fees, or, the estate attorney Florida’s legal fees.  If you do get an inheritance because you are named in the will, it is possible that your inheritance will be decreased.  Why? There are many estate lawyer fee shifting statutes in the Florida Probate Code.  Also, check out new Florida Senate Bill 872 which just became law July 1, 2015 for Florida probates.  Thatnew Florida probate law changes Florida Probate Code section 733.106 dealing with Florida estate lawyer fees including in probate litigation West Palm Beach.
4. What about the Florida revocable trust?  Also called a living trust, a revocable trust is now the “main” or most popular way to leave an estate.  Ask any Boca Raton estate planning attorney and they will tell you that most people have a Florida revocable trust plus a “pour over” Florida will.  So, why do you need a Palm Beach Probate? Well, there may be issues which you have to deal with such as creditors.  If you are objecting to the Florida trust, if you file a Palm Beach trust contest, and the Florida will references the revocable trust, you may also have to file a will contest in addition to a separate trust lawsuit: if you are objecting to the trust, you may also have to object to the will.  No estate opened yet? Well, then you better open a Palm Beach probate.