6 Siblings Fight Over Florida Homestead: December 18, 2015 1st DCA trust appeal

Homestead Florida is a hot topic for probate litigation law firms.  It is an area of the law which many find confusing, and which estate lawyers Florida are always reading recent appeals court decisions or appellate court decisions on.  Here is a probate litigation case in Florida where 6 siblings are quarrelling over the familiy homestead and the existence, or non existence, of a family trust.  What interest in real estate do 2 trustees get if the real estate is deeded to them, as trustees?  Do the trustees get a 100% fee interest, or do they get legal title to hold the real estate for the trust beneficiaries?  This December 18, 2015 1st DCA case involves an appeal of a homestead and trust issue, which is a probate or trust litigation Florida matter.  Here is the opinion, originally published as 40 Fla. L. Weekly D 2809, but REPUBLISHED by a corrected opinion on December 22, 2015: https://edca.1dca.org/DCADocs/2015/0364/150364_1287_12222015_115448_i.pdf

Who owns the family homestead in Florida?

• a family trust was created in the 1980’s by a Florida probate lawyer
• it may seem a bit coincidental or perhaps ironical that this estate lawyer’s estate is beingfought over by probate litigators after his passing, involving a family trust andhomestead
• 3 decades later, there is trust litigation Florida
• the trial court concluded that under 689.07(1), of the statutes, that two siblings or heirs at law, named on the deed as “co-trustees,” and listed as beneficiaries in the trust agreement or document, owned the property outright, free of trust, and 100% fee simple interest and NOT as trustees for the benefit of the beneficiaries
• the 1st DCA reversed the trial court meaning that other trust beneficiaries inherit

Who inherits the land if the trust and deed say different things?

• 2 of the four children were named the trustees of the trust
• now, not to be a Monday morning quarterback, and I know that hindsight is 20/20, but some trust lawyers Florida will tell you that multiple co-trustees can lead to a trust by committee or can slow things down
• does having multiple co trustees make sense for your revocable trust when you are gone or for your land trust ?
• the parents transferred the valuable real estate by three deeds or warranty deeds to John and Robert as Trustees
• Was that language of the deeds enough to tell the world that John and Robert did not individually own the real estate, but, rather, that the trust did?
• Was the deed language really in conflict with the words in the Florida trust document?
• trust litigation law firms will tell you that when a trust is ambiguous, a judge can tell you what it means
• and, if the trust words are not ambiguous, sometimes you STILL need a judge to tell you what the trust means
• why? there is a maxim or saying among Florida trust litigators that just because two sides or two probate attorneys interpret a trust differently, the trust is not necessarilyambiguous or confusing
• and that’s what a probate judge is for, afterall, right?  if people can’t agree on what a trust says, the judge will tell you what it says
• so there were 30 years of simmering disagreements between the adult children
• no surprise there, right?

Two Trustee Brothers Fight Each Other in Trust Lawsuit

• co trustee John files a trust lawsuit on May 16, 2013 against his co-trustee Robert
• wait?  a trustee suing another trustee? that’s not uncommon in Florida trust circles
• and, truth be told, if you need a declaration of rights from the trust about the trust or a trust asset, you should file suit if appropriate. and, don’t forget this, if you see a trustee doing something badly, and I’m not saying that any of this case’s trustees did anything badly, but in that instance, a co trustee has a duty to file suit and get help from a probate court
• the one co trustee, John, wanted the real estate sold and split 50-50 between John, himself that is, and his co trustee Robert
• but what about the deeds ?
• and what about the trust document and the beneficiaries?

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