Florida Estate FAQ’s: Filing A Florida Undue Influence Probate Lawsuit

Uncategorized • Sep 14, 2014

Question: How do I file an undue influence lawsuit in Florida for a probate of an estate ?

Florida Probate Litigation: Undue Influence Estate Lawsuit

Probate litigators from Ft. Lauderdale to Boca Raton to Boynton Beach are too familiar with the probate concept of UNDUE INFLUENCE
A Frequently Asked Question, or FAQ, about Palm Beach Probate, or Broward Estate Litigation is: how do I file an undue influence lawsuit?
Let’s take a look at the basics of an undue influence lawsuit in Florida Probate

First of all, the undue influence that we are talking about deals with a Florida will, a codicil to a Florida will or a Florida revocable trust
Undue influence in Florida can also set aside a marriage, a contract, or a bank account, joint account or beneficiary desigation, but we are not talking about those right now: just a Florida will or trust
This also means that undue influence can attack and have a Florida trust amendment declared void, or a trust restatement

If there is a probate opened up already for the estate, file your lawsuit there
If there is no Florida probate, then you need to open one up
You will not only need a Florida probate lawyer, but also someone who regularly litigates undue influence cases
Palm Beach undue influence cases have unique rules of procedure and “burden shifting” issues and rules of Florida evidence
If there is a Broward County probate already opened up, for example, make sure that you are within the time frames of the Florida Probate Rules to file your undue influence claim
If you don’t object to the Florida will in time, you are out of luck
You only have a VERY LIMITED amount of time to file your undue influence estate contest, depending whether you received notice of the Florida probate, or not……
Question: what if you didn’t get notice of the Palm Beach probate?
Question: what if they opened the Broward Estate without telling you ?

If there was a Florida revocable trust, you will have to file trust lawsuit to set aside or declare void the Florida trust
If the Florida will “incorporates” the Florida trust terms, like the terms of a Florida revocable trust, then you need two undue influence lawsuits: a probate lawsuit & a trust lawsuit.
In that case, file an undue influence case in the probate and then also for the trust…2 lawsuits? (yes)
Why?: Read the Pasquale case which was a Palm Beach appeals case from a Ft. Lauderdale probate/trust lawsuit