Florida Trust Beneficiaries Can Get to Federal Court
Florida trust beneficiaries may want to consider a somewhat novel Palm Beach trust litigation strategy: filing your Florida trust lawsuit in Federal Court. Likewise, Florida trustees or those that provide services to a Florida trust who are sued, may want to consider trying to remove a Florida trust lawsuit to Federal Court if you live out of state. Why? Many service providers and other “interested” persons to Florida trusts are subject to the jurisdiction of Florida Probate Courts. That means you may be sued here in Florida over a Florida trust matter even if you don’t live here. The Florida Trust Code was changed recently to expand those who are subject to trust lawsuits in Florida. Why does this even matter to Palm Beach trust beneficiaries or Palm Beach trustees or trust investment agents or Florida trust protectors? Ask your Palm Beach trust litigator. She will know. But before you do, you may want to review the analysis from a March 4, 2014 Washington federal court opinion on this subject. The federal court considered a trust lawsuit by two co-trustees and also trust beneficiaries against another co-trustee who lived out of state. The out of state co-trustee was also a beneficiary. Did the federal court have jurisdiction to hear the trust case? After all, many Palm Beach trust litigators know that a “ federal court may not probate a will, administer an estate or entertain an action that would interfere with pending probate proceedings in state court or with the control of property in custody of the state court. ”
ANNA NICOLE SMITH CASE Marshall v Marshall
Palm Beach probate lawyers remember the Anna Nicole Smith case and the issue of diversity of citizenship and federal question jurisdiction. Marshall v. Marshall, 547 U.S. 293, 126 S.Ct. 1735, 1748-49, 164 L.Ed.2d 480 (2006). The Washington federal court described it : ” the Supreme Court articulated a simple test of whether a case fits within the probate exception: whether a plaintiff seeks an in personam judgment against a defendant, as opposed to the probate or annulment of a will or other relief seeking to reach a res in the custody of a state court, and whether sound policy considerations, specifically, the special proficiency of state courts with respect to the issues presented by a case, militate in favor of extending the probate exception to that case. In Marshall, the Court specifically held that a claim based on a “widely recognized tort” such as tortious interference with an expectancy of an inheritance or gift is outside the exception. ”
More Questions for Palm Beach Probate Litigation ?
So, what does this mean for Palm Beach trust beneficiaries and maybe even family members who lost their inheritance ? Depending on the cause of action which your Palm Beach trial lawyer files for you, the Federal Courthouse may be waiting for you and your Palm Beach inheritance lawsuit. Fraud ? Conversion? Tortuous interference with an inheritance ?
In this recent Washington trust case, the co trustees who filed the trust lawsuit only wanted issues resolved concerning trust assets. The Co Trustees wanted:
- complete and full trust accounting of the Children’s Trust;
- complete and full accounting of the Family Trust;
- disgorge trust assets under co-trustee’s control that belong to the Children’s Trust;
- order compelling co-trustee to disgorge trust assets under his control that belong to the Family Trust.
Whether “going” to federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida for your trust lawsuit, or staying in Probate Court in Delray Beach or Palm Beach Gardens, Florida will be an important decision for you and your trust litigator to decide. Thankfully, there are many very good trust litigators from Jupiter, Florida, to Boca Raton, to Ft. Lauderdale.