Does Florida Homestead Case Lyons v. Lyons Ask More Questions than it Answered? October 29, 2014 QPRT case from Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal

A recent Florida homestead case from West Palm Beach’s 4th District Court of Appeal is already causing estate attorneys Palm Beach to lodge questions about this Florida QPRT case even though it’s only 24 hours old.   If you are involved with inheritance litigation or probate litigation involving Florida homestead and deeds, or a qualified personal residence trust or QPRT, you may want to read this case.  Probate attorneys from Boca Raton to Jupiter, Florida are suggesting that this homestead opinion has presented more questions than answers:

1. Does this opinion set aside, or create a “carve out”, or exception, for the general premise that , for a conveyance of one’s interest in Florida Homestead to be valid, the otherspouse has to consent, sign a waiver or join in the conveyance by signing the quitclaim deed?
2. Is a spouse who transfers his interest in Florida homestead to his spouse, by a quitclaim deed, giving up his Homestead rights if the spouse to whom he is “quitclaiming” the property, minutes after receiving the homestead, transfers it to a qualified personal residence trust?
3. Was the Palm Beach Appeals Court simply disgusted at the backtracking or double talk of the widow?  (“That deed that I signed in 1993 with a lawyer?….Yea…. didn’t I tell you?…. It’s not valid.”)
4. Should there have been a waiver of  Florida homestead paragraph in the deed from both spouses to the other or at least a separate writing speaking to homestead issues?
5. Why wasn’t there a personal representative of Richard’s estate involved in the estate litigation to assert the homestead rights of Richard, the spouse who died in 2007?
6. If a personal representative was not around, could an administrator ad litem have been appointed for Richard’s estate?
7. Did the Palm Beach appeals court get the standing issue right but create a big gap in Florida homestead law?
8. Doesn’t existing Florida case law say that since the husband, Richard, did NOT sign the quitclaim deed from Norma to the QPRT, that that deed is VOID, not voidable?  In other words, it’s a legal nullity?
9. Where were the probate lawyers Palm Beach?  No petition to determine homestead?

The case is Lyons v. Lyons, Nos. 4D13-1793 and 4D13-4211.  Justice Levine wrote the opinion and a complete copy of this Florida homestead opinion about widows, quitclaim deeds andQPRTs can be found free of charge at this link:  http://4dca.org/opinions/Oct%202014/10-29-14/4D13-1793.op.pdf