If you are involved in a will contest in Florida, there is an April 6th, 2016 4th District Court of Appeal opinion that your probate litigation law firm West Palm Beach may want to know about. Why? Well, although this is a foreclosure case, it stands for an important trial tactic: how do you get documents into evidence over a hearsay objection? Trial lawyers who handle trust lawsuits or probate litigation know that medical records and bank statements may need to come into evidence at a trial. Here’s how:
Medical Records are Important to Dementia Lawsuits in Florida
- If you are objecting to a will based upon lack of capacity, or if you are in the middle of a trust lawsuit, your trust lawyer West Palm Beach, probably wants medical records
- Right? If mom or dad supposedly created a trust when he or she was suffering from dementia or Alzheimers, and you got disinherited, you may wonder if that trust amendment or restatement is valid
- To overturn a trust in Florida, you have to prove various things at a trust trial
- Medical records can demonstrate the effects of dementia or Alzheimers at the time that you were supposedly dis-inherited from the Florida trust
- How do you get those medical records of your mom or dad?
- Try issuing a subpoena after a notice of non party production under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
Can You Get Bank Records to Show that A Trustee Took Money?
- Let’s suppose that your sister or brother was trustee of mom’s trust the last 5 years of mom’s life in Palm Beach
- Where did the money go from the revocable trust Florida?
- You want a trust accounting and want to see the bank records for the trust, because you believe that your trustee took money while mom was alive
- Should you file a trust lawsuit in Florida?
- The bank records should show, very simply, where the money went, if it went, where it went, and who took
- Maybe nothing is wrong, and everything is OK
- But, if your trustee stole money from the Florida trust, don’t you want to prove that at your Florida trust lawsuit trial?
The Florida Evidence Code and Business Records
- This recent 4th DCA case demonstrates how to get business records into evidence, such as bank records, proof of payment history, or even medical records
- Your trust lawyer Boca Raton may know a lot about writing trusts in Florida, but can she handle a trust trial in Delray Beach
- Most statements or writings which are offered for the truth may be hearsay and objected to
- There is a business records exception to the hearsay rule that probate litigators in Florida use all the time.
- This hearsay exception is found in the Florida Evidence Code and is explained by appellate decisions
- In this recent 4th DCA case, it is clear that to get documents into evidence, you need to lay a foundation
- Someone with personal knowledge must testify about the documents
- If you can’t get the person who actually prepared, or made, the business records, then get someone with personal knowledge of the contents of the documents to testify at your probate trial
- Page 3 and 4 of the Palm Beach appeals court opinion tell you how to get this done
- The person testifying must have personal knowledge of the information contained in the business records: even if he or she did not prepare them
- If there is no personal knowledge, then that witness is not qualified to testify about the medical records, or bank account statements, and they can be prevented from coming into evidence
- Here is a copy of the 4th DCA corrected opinion regarding the Florida Hearsay Rule and the rule on evidence as it relates to the business records exception: http://www.4dca.org/opinions/April%202016/04-06-16/4D14-4672.co-op.pdf