5 Common Florida Probate Mistakes to Avoid: a look at Florida probate and what not to do

Are you involved in a Florida probate administration? Many someone died and an estate has been opened up. You have been getting court documents in the mail and letters from attorneys with terms you don’t understand and legal mumbo jumbo and deadlines.

You are wondering if you need a lawyer and whether you should get involved. Well, if you do, consider these 5 Florida Common Probate Mistakes

1.  I’ll deal with it later. There’s plenty of time. One mistake is that heirs or beneficiaries think they have all the time in the world to object to something in the probate. If you want to know what’s going on in the dead Florida resident’s estate, then get involved in the probate. Don’t wait. Florida probate has short statute of limitations. For example, you only have three months after you receive notice of the probate administration to object to the will. If you miss that deadline, you blow it. Don’t have a baseless, false sense of security or dis-belief that you can file some “motion” or try to get more time later. You can’t. This is the world of Florida wills, and estates: it’s the probate world, which is a LOT different than the rest of the legal world where you have statutes of limitations that may last years.
2. If you don’t like what the executor is doing: speak up ! Failure to make your point or to raise an issue timely is fatal. The Florida executor is called a “personal representative”. The personal representative runs the estate. It’s her or his job to get a hold of assets, pay off debts, give notice to creditors, pay the dead Florida citizen’s last income tax return, pay expenses of probate administration and then distribute the assets remaining, if any, to the beneficiaries. If you don’t like what the personal representative is doing, you need to take action. If you don’t take action, a court could view your silence as acceptance of what the personal representative is doing. If you wait until the very end to say something and report something that you did not like, the court could rule that you are waived any objection. Finally, if you wait to criticize the personal representative, or Florida executor, the probate judge is going to wonder why you waited. Are you sincere about your complaint about the Florida probate? Do you REALLY believe the Florida executor did something wrong? If so, why did you wait until the end to say something? Don’t hurt your credibility with the probate court if you don’t like something going on in the estate by waiting to object or say something.
3. Get serious or get going. Don’t complain to complain. Upset about the fees the estate lawyer is charging? Wondering why you are not receiving your inheritance sooner? Are you questioning why one person was paid estate money and why another wasn’t? Those may be legit questions, but don’t just complain to complain. You run the risk that you’ll be viewed as a frustrated Florida estate beneficiary or a disgruntled, unhappy heir or family member. What forms the basis of your belief? A true understanding of how a Florida estate is run and objective criticisms of the way the probate is being handled….?……. or are you just mad that dad didn’t leave you more money? Are you pouting that mom left all your inheritance in a trust? And now you have to deal with Uncle Lou, your trustee? Your complaints, your allegations, need a factual basis. It’s ok to ask questions. Some estate lawyers and Florida executors even encourage it. After all, it’s the job of the personal representative to keep you, the person who has an inheritance or an interest in the Florida estate, informed. But don’t suggest that a fraud was committed if you don’t really understand what fraud is and you don’t have facts to support the fraud. You may end up costing yourself some money.
4. If you are objecting to the trust, object to the will: and vice versa. If you decide to try to object to the will, based on such things as undue influence or dementia, don’t object to just the will or the trust: you may blow it. Many times, a Florida resident dies with not just a will, but also a trust. Many Florida residents have a living trust, also called a revocable trust, which really distributes the wealth, money and property to the beneficiaries. The will is what they call a “pour over” will: it names the person who will be the Florida executor, but doesn’t really give anything to anyone: the Florida will identifies the revocable trust and leaves everything, in trust, to the trustee of the Florida revocable trust. In Florida, in this case, if you want to object to the will, you probably need to object to the trust. This means you have to file a trust lawsuit. Time and money. Oh yes, and vice versa: if you are objecting to the Florida trust because you don’t like the way it distributes money and inheritances, you MUST object to the will. If you don’t object to both the will and the trust, you may be done. Be cautious. Be smart. Florida probate litigation rules can be tricky.
5. Estate fees and costs too high? Don’t think you can just gripe about the fees without proving your case. Work and experts are required. If you think the estate attorneys, that is, the probate lawyers for the Florida executor, are charging too much, then object. But be prepared for a trial. Be prepared to call witnesses. And be prepared to hire, on your own dime, a Florida fee expert. Is the personal representative trying to take too much in fees or compensation? Same thing: get ready for a trial. Be prepared.

And remember, if you demand too much time or make too much trouble in the probate estate, the court can decrease your inheritance by the amount of money the estate spent on dealing with you. You may end up losing some of your inheritance if you are a fighting just to fight, arguing just to argue. Be cautious. Be smart. Be focused.