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
Filing An Undue Influence Lawsuit in a Florida Estate
- 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
File Your Undue Influence Lawsuit
- 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 ?
Watch Out for Florida Revocable Trusts
- 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