Does Florida Have a Dead Man’s Statute- Not Anymore!

Were your promised something from a relative or other individual   and that promise was not memorialized in a testamentary document (i.e. will or trust)? What can you do? Did you know the dead man statute in the past might have prevented you from testifying in a probate case for your own interest in that stake? Do you know the status of Florida’s dead man statute?

Florida’s Dead Man Statute Abolished

• At common law there was something known as a dead man’s statute that prevented a party from testifying for their own interests in a case against a dead person or their estate.
• The rule had some other intricacies as well, for example it does not apply to criminal matters.
• Florida’s version of the dead man’s statute was a trap for litigants in West Palm Beach for over a century and finally just ten years ago in 2005 it was abolished.
• Do you know what replaced it though?
• In lieu of the Dead Man’s Statute the Florida legislature created Fla. Stat. 90.804(2)(e).
• This rule added an exception to the hearsay rule to permit relevant communications of deceased or incompetent persons to heard by a trier of fact (i.e. judge in a bench trial or a jury).

Florida Supreme Court Approval

• Under Florida’s constitution these types of rules have to be approved by the Florida Supreme Court if they are purely procedural in nature.
• This is because if they were substantive they would be laws as we know them and properly the work of a legislature.
• In July of 2007 the Florida Supreme Court approved these changes forever abolishing the traditional dead man’s statute.

What does this mean for your West Palm Beach Will Contest?

• Experienced Palm Beach probate litigators know that the abolition discussed above has expanded the available evidence in a will contest.
• Often what makes someone want to stand up and show what had gone wrong?
• The fact that they would have gotten paid otherwise!
• Under the previous law this person would be able unable to testify to any conversations they had with the decedent.
• That is no longer the case.
• Are you prepared to make your case to set aside a West Palm Beach will?

Want to learn more?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.