On March 12th, 2014, the appeals court for Palm Beach probate & guardianship cases issued a VERY important opinion involving joint bank accounts & Palm Beach Guardianships. Anyone who is involved in a Palm Beach guardianship and is concerned with the care of the incapacitated person & how you are going to pay for the services and care should read this. But more so, two spouses who are on a joint account should read this Palm Beach probate appeals case if the spouses may be adverse to each other. This is one of the most important joint bank account cases in years for Palm Beach probate.
Why Is This Joint Bank Account Case So Important for Palm Beach Guardianships?
- The case is Romano v. Olshen
- Joint accounts with a right of survivorship may be used to pay pre death expenses of a Palm Beach guardianship
- So if the person who is the subject of the guardianship has a joint account
- Even if the joint owner objects
- And even if the Ward then dies
- That joint account can be “tapped” to pay pre death, and post death, expenses of the guardianship
- Even though the joint account “goes” to the surviving joint owner by Florida law
What Else Is Important About this Palm Beach Joint Account Case ?
- At least in Palm Beach, Broward County, & Martin County, Florida
- Guardianship expenses are an equitable lien on a Palm Beach joint account
- For pre death and post death guardianship matters, including attorneys fees & guardian fees
- NOT just joint bank accounts: any joint account like at a brokerage company
Palm Beach Probate Law: the Florida Probate Code and Guardianship Law
- Chapter 744 of the Florida Probate Code (Florida guardianship law) permits a Palm Beach probate court to authorize payments for the Ward’s necessary expenses AFTER his death
- Under Chapter 744, a guardian has broad powers to access a Ward’s assets to act in the Ward’s best interests
Joint Accounts between Florida Spouses
- The Florida Supreme Court case of Beal Bank is not applicable to spouse versus spouse joint accounts
- In this Palm Beach guardianship case, which was in the Probate Court in Delray Beach, it “pitted” the spouse & joint owner against her husband’s guardian…… fighting over the access to the Palm Beach joint account
- There is no presumption of tenancies by the entirety of a joint account under Beal Bank between spouses: only between a debtor and a third party creditor
- A spouse who is “on” a joint account should not be able to block the spouse’s guardian’s access to the money in the joint account for guardianship expenses
- A tenancy by the entirety may have been proven if the wife testifed favorably in the Delray Guardianship Court: she did not
The 4th District Court of Appeal hears appeals of Palm Beach probate cases, Guardianship cases in Palm Beach & Broward and probate from Stuart, Florida.
Here’s the complete opinion of the 4th District Court of Appeal, in West Palm Beach, Florida: When-Worlds-Collide-The-Interlay-Between-FamilyLaw-and-Probate-Administration.pdf