4 Things You Can Do When No One Is Telling You About Your Parent’s Florida Estate: getting answers to your Florida inheritance

Do you have questions about your inheritance from a Florida estate?  So many family members, adult sons and other previous or expectant probate beneficiaries seem to be lost.  Yes, you have questions about the Florida estate, like: where’s my inheritance?  You scratch your heads and say “Mom died with a $2 Million estate, a house in Palm Beach Gardens, checking accounts,joint bank accounts and mutual funds.  Where’s my money inheritance?”  Yet, there’s no Palm Beach probate and no answers.  You are an adult child who used to be named in the Florida will, or were a beneficiary of mom or dad’s revocable living Trust Boca Raton, but where’s your inheritance?  There’s no check in the mail, no reading of the Florida will, no probate notice, no, well, nothing. Well, if you have questions on why no one has contacted you about your inheritance, maybe it’s time for you to take charge and take legal or inheritance matters into your own Florida probate hands.  Here are 4 things to consider if you are still waiting for your Florida probate inheritance. Or, put another way, here are 4 things to consider in Florida estates if you don’t have answers about your inheritancefrom your parent’s estate.

1. Ask.  What can I do if no one is telling me about my parent’s estate Palm Beach? Well, ask. Ask who about my inheritance or rights to an estate? Well, you could hire your own probate litigation law firm West Palm Beach, but that costs money. So, why not try to ask those you know who are likely to have information about your father’s Florida estate?  Why not ask his 3rd wife?  How about his probate lawyer Jupiter, Florida?  His accountant?  If you know that someone, like your sister who went to law school but doesn’t practice, or your older brother who was dad’s favorite, was named in his will as his executor of the will: ask them.  Why is there no probate?  Do you know who the trustee of dad’s revocable trust is? Ask him or her.
2. Demand. If everyone is silent and won’t tell you anything about dad’s money or his bank accounts in Lake Worth, or his condo in Boynton Beach, then keep a record andtrack each and every communication from them to you and you to them. Why? Because those emails and letters and text messages can be used as evidence at theestate lawsuit trial that you may want or file for if you don’t get the answers you want. Imagine if they lie to you and say you don’t inherit, and then you find a will or a trust that says you do.  That’s good for your probate lawsuit Delray Beach.  But focus anddon’t delay or take too long.  If you’re not getting your estate inheritance, don’t you think there is a chance that someone else is already spending it?  So, make a demand for information and your inheritance.
3. Get a copy of the will. I can’t tell you how many people report that they don’t have a copy of their parent’s will.  Did you know that under the Florida Probate Code, the person who has the will of your father or mother must file it with the clerk of courts?  So,go get a copy.  Go to the probate court in Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach or West Palm Beach and get a copy from the clerk’s office.  If the will has not been filed, there is a new law in Florida Probate that permits you to try to open a probate and also get attorneys fees from someone who had the will but refused to file it.  So, try to open a probate after you demand that people you know file the will if they have it.
4. Open a Palm Beach probate yourself.  If there is no will surfacing and no one will tell you anything about the estate or the Florida property you thought you would inherit, consider taking charge and being a leader.  Open probate yourself and tell the probate court Palm Beach that you are an heir and you can’t find the will after a diligent search and you think your rich father or mother died intestate, without a will.  Give notice to all family members or heirs according to the Florida Probate Rules.  And then, get some answers and get your Florida inheritance.