What are the obligations of estate executors when they are replaced?
This is one issue which the West Palm Beach 4th District Court of Appeal dealt with in a probate appeal opinion issued yesterday, August 21st, 2014.
Former Executors Appeal Ft. Lauderdale Probate Court Ruling
- Outgoing or former executors of a Broward County, Florida will filed a probate appeal
- Put another way, former Personal Representatives of a Broward County, Florida estate appealed a ruling by the Ft. Lauderdale Probate Court to return assets to the estate based upon conflicts of interest
- The former executors of the will won the probate appeal
- The Broward Probate Court ruling was reversed
- Here’s why:
Probate Court Should Have Held an Evidentiary Hearing
- West Palm Beach’s 4th District Court of Appeal hears appeals of Florida probate cases for Stuart, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida and also Ft. Lauderdale
- The outgoing or former personal representatives were ordered to return assets to the estate evidently without an evidentiary hearing
- The appeals court said the Ft. Lauderdale Probate Court should have conducted an evidentiary hearing
Evidentiary Hearings by Florida Probate Lawyers
- An evidentiary hearing is a hearing before a Florida Probate Judge where the moving party, or the party that wants relief, introduces evidence to prove his or her point
- Call witnesses
- Introduce documents
- Provide testimony
- Provide the Broward County probate court with some facts from which the court may apply the law and make findings of fact, and, then, make conclusions of law.
- In other words, don’t have your Ft. Lauderdale probate lawyer just get up there and argue. Why? Because in the Florida probate litigation world, oral argument of your estate lawyer is NOT evidence. It’s legal argument.
If you are involved in a Palm Beach probate or a Broward County probate, or are dealing with a Florida probate lawyer or Palm Beach probate litigator, you may want to read the opinion from the appeals court on this recent Florida probate case. Here is the link to read the opinion free of charge: http://4dca.org/opinions/Aug%202014/08-20-14/4D14-320.op.pdf