FT. LAUDERDALE ESTATE LITIGATION — BANK, TRUSTEE AND BENEFICIARY DISPUTE SALE PROCEEDS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY HOME — PALM BEACH PROBATE COURT GETS INVOLVED

Who gets the money from the house sale ?  The TRUST BENEFICIARY, the successor TRUSTEE, or the bank  ……  ?

That’s the basic issue faced by a    Palm Beach Probate Court  –and , also the Ft. Lauderdale Probate Court —  involving a Broward County, Florida estate, a    Florida Revocable Trust,    a Palm Beach house, and trust beneficiaries.      Why are TWO  Florida Probate Courts involved ?  Read on …………..

BROWARD COUNTY ESTATE WITH PALM BEACH LAND

• A Ft. Lauderdale, Florida man passed away, creating a #BrowardCountyProbate    estate and leaving a
• #FloridaRevocableTrust, also called a    Florida living trust
• The Florida Trust owned a home in Palm Beach, which the Trustee wanted to sell

PALM BEACH HOUSE HAS MORTGAGE – transferred to Florida Revocable Trust

• The owner of the Palm Beach house transferred it to her Florida Revocable Trust before death. Put another way: the owner of the house transferred it to herself, as trustee   of her Florida Revocable Trust.  The house was in the trust.
• The Palm Beach house was encumbered by a bank’s mortgage.

TRUST SETTLOR DIES — FLORIDA TRUST BECOMES IRREVOCABLE — successor trustee takes over

• After the settlor died, the successor trustee continued paying the mortgage.
• Then, without the bank’s consent, the successor trustee    sold the Palm Beach home.
• The bank wanted the mortgage paid off but the successor trustee refused to do so.

BANK SUES FLORIDA TRUSTEE – wants money from house sale

• The bank filed a  #TrustLawsuit   in Palm Beach County, Florida
• The Bank asked the #PalmBeachProbate Court to compel the successor trustee to turn over the $$    —-  sale proceeds —  to the bank
• After that, a   #TrustBeneficiary filed a #TrustLawsuit  in Broward County to discharge the successor trustee.
• The #BrowardCountyProbate court granted the motion and appointed the second successor trustee.

EVERYONE WANTS THE MONEY !   Bank, beneficiary and 2^nd Successor Trustee all file #TrustLawsuits  –   in Palm Beach and Broward County

• The second successor trustee wanted the sale proceeds and filed a motion in the #BrowardCounty Trust case
• But in the #PalmBeachTrust case, the law firm holding the sale proceeds for the first successor trustee offered to place the money with the #PalmBeachCourt

Why are there two Probate Courts  ?

BROWARD PROBATE JUDGE ORDERS SALE PROCEEDS TO GO TO 2^ND SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE

• The Broward County Probate Court ordered the $$  to be transferred to the second successor trustee.
• But what about the bank ?

PALM BEACH APPEALS COURT SAYS PALM BEACH PROBATE COURT DECIDES WHO GETS  $$$  — NOT BROWARD PROBATE COURT

The    bank  appealed   the Broward County Probate Court’s ruling to the Appeals Court for Broward County and Palm Beach County — Florida’s 4^th District Court of Appeals.  The Appeals Court, which is in West Palm Beach, Florida, hears appeals of    trust lawsuits,   Palm Beach probates,    Broward probates and real estate located in Palm Beach County.   It held that the #PalmBeachProbate Court will tell everyone who gets the sale proceeds.