April 1, 2015 Florida Fourth DCA Appeal – How Important Will Evidentiary Hearings Be in a Probate Proceeding?

In order to succeed on a will challenge you will have to raise evidence of something that the court can use to set aside a will. So….. are you ready for your trial on the will challenge Palm Beach?   Who’s your first witness?  What documents will you introduce to set aside the Boca Raton Will?  But Courts in Florida also have restrictions on what types of evidence can be admitted in an adversarial proceeding.

What is an adversarial probate proceeding?

• How can you be sure that the evidence you need to overturn your uncle’s will is allowed in under Florida evidence code? (Did you read the Florida evidence code? Is your probate litigator ready ?)
• A criminal case out of the Fourth DCA, Williams v. State highlights the importance of evidence in a case.
• Your probate lawyer may know the Probate Code, but does she understand the rules of evidence in an inheritance trial Palm Beach Gardens?
• Do you know when a probate lawsuit is “adversarial” and when the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure apply?
• Evidence is a broad term and means basically any type of fact, picture, demonstration or otherwise that you wish to show to the court. It could be testimony from a witness or even a video tape.
• Whether or not evidence is allowed into court is a question of admissability and a piece of evidence can be found inadmissable for a number of reasons. 
• Did you know that under Florida law, a valid will cannot be interpreted with extrinsic evidence which is any evidence outside of the four corners of the document itself?

Florida criminal defendant challenges trial court order that vacates a prior judge’s ruling that the State’s best evidence is inadmissible

• An individual was loitering and asked for ID by the police, after a check for warrants a chase ensued and upon tackling the defendant, a small container of drugs was discovered.
• A search of the individual after arrest led to the discovery of another vile of drugs.
• The court had held that one of these pieces of evidence was inadmissible, meaning that the State could not tell the jury about it! The Court on its own initiative reversed that and the defendant appealed and won.
• If you have an evidentiary hearing can you appeal that decision right there to the higher court or do you have to wait until the entire hearing / case has concluded?
• This case saw the evidence thrown out because it was unconstitutional but under what grounds would evidence be thrown out in a probate proceeding in West Palm Beach?
• What kind of evidence does your probate lawyer need to show to get you that house in Jupiter, to win that will contest in Delray or to abolish that trust in Boca Raton?

Probate Evidentiary Hearings

• A final thought:
• Do you know what an evidentiary hearing is in a Palm Beach probate?
• Does your probate lawyer Florida know the difference between an evidentiary hearing and probate lawsuit trial Palm Beach?