Contract Litigation, Arbitration Provisions, and Florida Probate Litigators

Are you or a family member involved in contract litigation in Palm Beach? Does a contract you signed or created include an arbitration provision? What should your Florida trust and estates litigator know about third party beneficiaries?  If you are involved in a lawsuit regarding a contract with an arbitration provision, in Florida, you may want to read Mendez v. Hampton Court Nursing Center, LLC.

Arbitration Clauses in Probate Litigation

• Florida probate attorneys need to know the rules for arbitration and how to use it or get around it.
• This is because these clauses are becoming more and more common in West Palm Beach litigation.
• Palm Beach probate lawyers know that, depending on the client, arbitration may or may not be a good idea.
• There are a lot of facts that probate attorneys look at when deciding if these clauses belong in your estate plan.
• On the other hand a Florida will contest lawyer may not have a choice.
• If the estate plan has the clause, the Florida will contest lawyer has to deal with that and live with it.
• Are there ways to get around an arbitration clause in Florida probate?

Mendez v. Hampton Court Nursing Center, LLC

• This was an important September 22, 2016 Supreme Court of Florida decision.
• Is a third party bound by an arbitration provision in a contract that he or she did not sign?
• Here, a son admitted his father to a nursing home in Florida.
• The son signed a contract that contained an arbitration provision.
• In this context, the Supreme Court of Florida said that the father, who was the third party beneficiary, was not bound by the arbitration provision in the contract that he did not sign.