Can you change a will in Florida after the death of the testator? (Florida Probate Code § 732.615)

Have you noticed what appears to me a mistake in your mother or father’s will? Did they intend to administer their Florida property in one way, but the will specifies that the assets should be administered in a different way?  Before 2011, the will would win and any attempt to correct the will would be ignored by the Florida probate courts.  

Now, however, Florida Legislature has enacted Florida Probate Code § 732.615 to allow the reformation of a will:

• Previously under Florida probate law, a trust agreement could be reformed for a mistake of fact or law, but a will could not.
• The new statute allowing the modification of wills became effective on July 1, 2011.
• Under the new statute, any interested person can submit an application to change or reform the Florida will.
• The Florida Probate courts will consider reforming or changing the will if there is “clear and convincing evidence” the the testator’s true intent is different from what is stated in the will.
• In determining the testator’s original intent, the court may consider any relevant evidence even though the evidence may contradict an apparently unambiguous meaning of the will.

Previously, a Florida court could allow a reformation only if a will was extremely ambiguous. However, as Palm Beach probate litigation attorneys have seen countless times, in some circumstances a discrepency in the will does not involve ambiguity, but instead involves a mistake. For example, let’s say your father always told you that he was going to leave you an inheritance of $100,000 that you needed to open up the Fort Lauderdale bait shop you always wanted to own.  However, when the will was read, it looks like he forgot a “0” and left you only $10,000.  In such cases, courts were previously barred from introducing evidence to determine the true intent of the testator, even if it was obvious what the testator’s true intent was from evidence other than the will. New Florida Statute section 732.615 gives support forFlorida beneficiaries who were deprived of an inheritance or part of an inheritance under a will when it was clear from other evidence that the decedent’s intent was not properly reflected in the will.

See http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/ for videos and information on Wills in Florida, Florida Trust Law, Estate Planning, and Estate Administration in Florida.