Florida Intestate Estates and Family Rivalries: Does Having a Florida Will Help?

Probate litigators frequently encounter battles between a decedent’s children and the decedent’s second or third spouse. These battles can get every heated when there is no will involved, especially if there is a question as to whether or not the surviving spouse was legally married to the decedent at the time of his or her death. This is exactly what happened in Cohen v. Shusan, a Second DCA opinion.

Here, the decedent’s daughter, Diana Cohen, filed a petition for intestate administration of her father’s Florida assets. What does this mean?  In Florida, if you die without a will, you are dying intestate. This means that your wealth will pass to your heirs. Who are heirs? If you have a spouse and children, they will probably inherit. In this case, the daughter named her father’s six children as the only heirs to his Florida estate. However, Mali Ben Shushan, the decedent’s reputed spouse in Israel, responded to the petition. She argued that under Israeli law, she was considered the decedent’s wife for the purposes of inheritance and, therefore, was entitled to a surviving spouse’s share of the Florida estate. The trial court agreed. The Second DCA reversed and remanded.

Could this estate battle have been avoided if the decedent had a Florida estate plan in place before he passed away? What if the decedent left his property to the reputed spouse in a valid Florida will so that she would not have to fight for it against his children?  Although a Palm Beach estate plan cannot guarantee that your family will not fight over your money,  it can help to insure that your money and assets are distributed the way you would like them to be distributed. If you have a will, you can specify very important things, like who will inherit your beach house or your one-of-a-kind collection of expensive paintings. Furthermore, you can specify who you would like to take care of your children if you pass away or who you would like to make healthcare decisions for you if you were to develop dementia or Alzheimers.  If you haven’t already, consider consulting with a West Palm Beach estate lawyer before it is too late.