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Florida Probate Litigation: The Importance of Writing Clear and Detailed Wills, Trusts, and Probate Documents

Uncategorized • May 13, 2016
post about Florida Probate Litigation: The Importance of Writing Clear and Detailed Wills, Trusts, and Probate Documents

What happens if two people interpret a Florida trust differently? What if the language in a marital agreement or Florida willis unclear? How do the Florida probate courts determine what the true meaning of a provision should be? A May 4,2016 Fourth DCA case , Feliciano v. Feliciano, explains how the courts interpret documents.

Interpreting Florida Will, Trusts, and Probate Documents

  • When an estate planning attorney West Palm Beach prepares an estate plan for you, such as a will or revocable trust, they try their best to make the document clear.
  • One thing Florida trust and estates attorneys need to do is identify who’s going toinherit money and how much.
  • If there’s a trust, they have to tell the trustee what to do with income and principal.
  • Interpreting a Florida trust or will should be easy ,but a probate lawyer Delray Beach can tell you that, often, it’s not.
  • You can ask any probate litigator Boca Raton if they frequently encounterconstruction actions.
  • They will tell you that it happens all of the time.
  • What is a construction action?
  • A construction action involves construing, or interpreting, what a written document says.
  • Construction actions occur to determine the meaning of contracts, deeds, marital settlement agreements, wills, trusts, etc.
  • In a construction action, one of the threshold issues is whether a provision isambiguous or not.
  • A trust and estates litigator West Palm Beach can tell you that, just because two people look at a document and don’t agree with what it means, does not necessarily mean the document is ambiguous.
  • Most probate judges in Florida will read a document, or a provision, in a trust and tell you whether they believe it is ambiguous.
  • If the judge does not believe it is ambiguous, the judge will rule and tell you what he interprets the document or provision to mean.
  • However, if the document is ambiguous, a probate court judge is permitted to hear parole evidence, intrinsic evidence, testimony , etc. to determine what was intended by the parties when the document was drafted.

Feliciano v. Munoz-Feliciano

  • This was a Fourth DCA case regarding a marital agreement.
  • Although this is not a probate litigation case, this case provides useful information about how the court interprets documents.
  • Furthermore, marital documents are often relevant in probate trials Palm Beachbecause they can have an effect on inheritance.
  • In it’s analysis, the court states that ” the interpretation of the wording and meaning of a marital settlement agreement, as incorporated into the final judgment, is subject to de nova review.”
  • What does this mean?
  • They also say that ” absent any evidence that the parties intended to endow a special meaning in the terms used in the agreement, the unambiguous language is to be given a realistic interpretation based on the plain, everyday meaning conveyed by the words.”
  • Furthermore, “courts are not to rewrite terms that are clear and unambiguous.”

    Want to know more about Florida probate litigation? Consider these free resources: