Florida Probate Courts: Probate Judges and Estate Courts: new year judicial assignments may be forthcoming

Are you involved in a probate or civil  lawsuit in Palm Beach County, Florida?  Broward County, Florida?  Or Miami Dade?   If you are, talk to your probate or estate lawyers about your trial schedule to make sure you are on track.  As many courts or judicial districts do, at the beginning of a new year, sometimes probate judges or civil judges in Palm Beach are rotated into another assignment or division.  In Palm Beach County, Florida, like most of the Florida judicial districts or court systems, an administrative chief judge assigns judges to particular divisions: such as probate, criminal, family, etc.   At the end of the year, watch for any announcements by the court system, the judicial district, which may move or transfer judges.  In other words, you may have a new judge come January.  Your probate litigator or estate lawyer will want to know about this.  For Palm Beach County courts, which is the 15th Judicial Circuit, there have been no announcements made on its website and the judicial directory is dated at the end of October.  Palm Beach County has courthouses in Palm Beach Gardens,  West Palm Beach and Delray Beach.  Probate courts are located in each of those communities and probate judges handle all probates, estate administration, trust administration, trust lawsuits and inheritance fights—as well as all guardianship matters.  There is at least one, sometimes two, probate judges in each of these Palm Beach County courts, probate divisions.    What does this mean?  Ask your lawyer if your probate judge is being transferred. Look for announcements from the Palm Beach County clerk’s website or directly from the judge.   If a Palm Beach probate or civil judge is transferred, this may affect your Florida probate, estate or trust trial date or how soon you can set your estate matter for trial or for a hearing.  A new probate judge may need more time get up to speed on a particular hearing or to prepare for an estate trial.   New assignments may also slow down your estate or trust case or guardianship case, for that matter, and may affect your litigation strategy or tactics.  Advocate hard. Litigate smart.