Generally, after someone dies in Florida, their heirs and beneficiaries open up a probate estate with the court. Want the rules? Read the Florida Probate Code online for free. After the estate is opened, an executor or personal representative is usually appointed to oversee the Florida estate administration.
- The executor of an estate in Florida has many responsibilities, one of which is to settle claims with the decedent’s creditors.
- The Florida Probate Code Section 733.707 provides a priority of creditors over those who stand to inherit assets in Florida.
- In other words, if there a bunch of creditors to that Boca Raton estate, the probate court judge inPalm Beach County will tell you who gets paid first.
- And one golden rule of Palm Beach probate is: creditors to the estate get paid before probate beneficiaries see a dime !
- Why?
- Read the Florida Probate Code and the Florida Probate Rules.
- This priority becomes critical in certain situations, like when there aren’t enough assets to pay all the creditors.
- And this can become even more complicated when bringing a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida.
Who gets the wrongful death money in Florida? Is probate necessary?
So, what happens after a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida? How are the proceeds from asuccessful wrongful death suit distributed in Florida? Do they have to go directly to thecreditors? Or do the surviving spouse and minor children inherit?
- Palm Beach wrongful death attorneys –and Palm Beach probate lawyers — know that settlement money or lawsuit money from wrongful death cases can sometimes be the subject of a legal brawl between creditors and family members
- So, who wins?
- Does the family inherit the wrongful death money or settlement money or can the creditors get it?
- The issue is: who is really entitled to the Florida wrongful death settlement or monetarydamages award?
- If the plaintiff in the case happens to be the executor, or the personal representative, then theexecutor is suing on behalf of the decedent’s estate.
- Can a spouse or children, be a plaintiff and sue?
- How can you get settlement money or wrongful death money to bypass the estate or probate?
Read the Wrongful Death Act (§ 768.20),:plaintiffs in wrongful death cases typically have to be initially brought by personal representatives or executors in Florida. Still though, there are instances where immediate family can be added as plaintiffs in addition to the estate.
So, how does this affect your Florida inheritance? See http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/ for videos and information on Wills in Florida, Florida Trust Law, Estate Planning, and Estate Administration in Florida.