Can Estate Beneficiary Sue Estate Attorney? Transfers of $$ to Attorney’s Wife?

In order to sue in a court you have to have something called standing to sue.  For example, in a Palm Beach probate, you have to be an interested party.  Will contests Delray Beach usually involve a party losing all or a large portion of their inheritance but if they are totally disinherited can they lose standing?  If you are not named in a will, do you even have the legal ability to file a probate claim Palm Beach? See what the Supreme Court of Missouri had to say on similar issues in the Feb. 2015 case of Willliams v. Hubbard. 

• Normally when a person dies, their will is probated in Probate Court Palm Beach Gardens
• An executor of the will, or a personal representative collects the assets and divides them pursuant to the will.
• For various reasons, people like to avoid probate and there are a number of ways to do so, such as POD accounts and revocable living trusts.
• But is this always a good idea?  Yes say many estate planning lawyers West Palm Beach.
• Why does Florida have probate courts if they can just be avoided? Do they serve their purpose of ensuring that assets are passed in line with the deceased Florida resident’s intent?

Williams v. Hubbard, No. SC 93853 Opinion issued Feb. 3, 2015

• An estate beneficiary, in this recent, 2015, probate malpractice case,  would receive the entire estate if the assets went through probate.
• Remember, many probate lawyers Boca Raton suggest avoiding probate with so called “will substitutes” or beneficiary designations.
• This estate beneficiary filed a suit against an estate attorney (and his wife) who filed a client’s estate planning documents.
• Did the attorney take all the assets so they would avoid probate and go directly to his wife?  You need to read this case.
• Ultimately the court found that “beneficiary lacked standing to assert that …[the acts complained of] were the product of undue influence.”

A Few things to consider if you are thinking about suing a probate lawyer:

1. So if your West Palm Beach estate gets essentially liquidated by your attorney do you have no relief?
2. Do the doctrines of standing really allow the attorney to use a loop hole like this?
3. How can you ensure that this does not happen to your Delray Beach Estate? 
4. Who in Florida has standing to sue an estate lawyer for taking money?
5. Who in Florida probate has legal standing to sue for probate malpractice?
6. Would a lawsuit like tortuous interference with an inheritance be a better way to get your inheritance back?
7. Are there other ways to recover your inheritance if someone took it?