Fraud on the Court : a recent Florida case

Florida probate litigators deal with contested or disputed issues of wills, trusts, estates, inheritances and guardianships every day.  Many times there are family members or those who are related to the decedent, client or person by marriage who don’t get along.  Frustration is high.  Blood runs hot.  Money is at stake.  While Florida attorneys, indeed trust and estate clients, should be good advocates, one must always be mindful what everyone’s role in probate litigation and trust trials is:  to find out the truth and then apply the law to that truth, those facts.  A court will not tolerate any–any!–deception or wrongdoing on the part of a litigant–a beneficiary, a plaintiff, a defendant, trustee, personal representative or party to a lawsuit.  Florida estate administrators, personal representatives, trustees and attorneys and litigators know this.    A lie, a mis-statement, a half-truth is a fraud.  And a fraud in a lawsuit is not only wrong, it’s an assault on our society, our civil procedure and our judicial process.  A recent case decided last month dealt with the issue of a “fraud on the court.”  What does a court do when a person lies?  A court has broad powers to strike a party’s pleadings, which means your complaint or answer and defenses may be simply taken away: they don’t exist, which means the other side wins.  A trial court’s ruling on striking a party’s pleadings after a finding of fraud on the court will be reviewed under a somewhat narrow abuse of discretion standard.  After all, a judge striking pleadings is severe.  Judges in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County know this.  Probate litigators know this.  Attorneys who handle estates and trusts know this.  Sometimes the litigants don’t know the severity of it.  A fraud on the court is nothing more than an attempt to subvert the judicial process.  If it is done with the intent to deceive, striking of one’s pleadings may be permitted and appropriate.  If you want a copy of the case, please email michelle@pankauskilawfirm.com.  If you believe you have been the victim of someone lying in court, of not telling the truth, of making a mis-representation, of hiding the ball, hiding evidence, then call an attorney who is familiar with litigating these matters.  Advocate hard.  Litigate smart.