Facebook Posting Violates Confidentiality of Settlement Agreement

Are you in the middle of settling a Palm Beach estate case?  If you are going to a Palm Beach probate mediation or may sign a probate settlement agreement, you need to read this commentary and this recent case on Florida settlement agreements and Facebook.  Florida settlement agreements are contracts, requiring each party to actually adhere to the terms which they agreed to, in writing.  You can’t sign a settlement agreement on a Monday and then violate its terms on a Tuesday.  That’s called a “breach” under Florida law.   And there’s consequences.  Sometimes very expensive ones.   Anyone who has signed a settlement agreement, who may be going to a Palm Beach Probate Mediation, or who posts on Facebook, www.facebook.com or other social media, will want to read this February 26, 2014 opinion from Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal.  This was a Miami lawsuit, not a probate case, where the parties to the lawsuit settled it and signed a settlement agreement.   This is very common in Palm Beach probates and Palm Beach trust disputes since most Palm Beach probate judges order mediation before the estate or inheritance trial.  In this Miami lawsuit, there was a confidentiality provision which prohibited the parties from disclosing the terms of the settlement agreement, directly or indirectly, to third parties. One of the parties told his daughter who posted about it on Facebook.  Not good.   If you are involved in a Palm Beach trust lawsuit or any Palm Beach probate litigation, ask your Palm Beach probate litigator about whether you want a confidentiality provision in your settlement agreement.  And then have your Palm Beach estate litigator explain the implications of the confidentiality agreement. Remember, settling a Palm Beach inheritance lawsuit is not for everyone, but if confidentiality is something that is important to you, here’s two points to keep in mind: 1) you are not going to get confidentiality if you have an inheritance trial in Palm Beach.   Palm Beach will contests and Will Challenges in the Delray Beach courthouse or the Palm Beach Gardens Courthouse are open to the public and most Palm Beach estate litigators have a court reporter there taking down every word.  2) make sure your estate settlement agreement has some “teeth” in it if the other side violates it or the confidentiality provision.  What happens if everyone agrees on confidentiality and then someone posts on social media or tells someone ?  What’s the cost ?