HOW DO I LEARN ABOUT MY PARENTS’ FLORIDA ESTATE AND MONEY? : important reminders about “discovery” in Florida estates and probate administration. Why beneficiaries who harass or play probate lawyer can lose an inheritance and get burned.

Your parents are dead and you wondering where all the money went.

Your mom and dad lived in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida in a house that’s worth $800,000. Dad was an executive who you believe had lots of life insurance and a huge retirement account. Mom and dad lived lavishly, but how much could they really spend in retirement?

You are a beneficiary of their estates and Florida trusts. A probate administration lawyer is handling your parents’ estates and financial affairs now that they are gone. She tells you that all your folks had, besides the Florida house, were a $600,000 brokerage account with a Palm Beach bank, some personal property, and an interest in a small business you’ve never heard of. Some “private equity” investment. She also tells you that they had some sort of “reverse mortgage” on their house, which you don’t quite understand. They made sizable gifts to your dad’s college and your mother’s favorite local charity, which is also a major beneficiary of the estate. Evidently some “gift tax returns” were filed by your parents during their lives, but you are not quite sure what those are. After all, you are not a Florida tax lawyer.

You wonder: where did all of the money go? You are certain that mom and dad were worth more: a lot more money.

You want to know what happened.

How do you find out?

You want answers. After all, this is your family, right? And this is your money…………… isn’t it?

For beneficiaries of Florida estates and trusts, consider Florida Probate Rule 5.080. Family members, heirs, children and estate beneficiaries often use this Florida Probate Rule to learn about their parents’ money, their wealth: where did the money go and how was it spent?

Many times children of wealthy parents are shocked to learn that mom and dad either gave them a small inheritance (smaller than hoped for) or that mom and dad died with less money than believed.

Can you find out what happened to your parents’ money?

Sure! But be careful or you can get burned.

The Probate Rule permits, indeed authorizes, family members and estate beneficiaries to ask questions about your parent’s wealth and get answers: by the formal “discovery” process. In a Florida probate, that is, in a Florida estate proceeding, you may “officially” or “formally” request information from the executor of the estate (what Florida calls the “personal representative” of the Florida estate) or from another person who may have the information which you seek. Indeed the discovery process in a Florida probate court requires the other side to respond to your discovery requests. This discovery process lets you ask questions which need to be answered under oath, it lets you get documents which can reveal things about your parents’ money, and it also permits you to issue subpoenas to others, like banks or brokerage companies, and it lets you ask questions of persons under oath, while being recorded by a reporter or even videotaped. Lots to learn and lots to do ! What can you get? Brokerage statements? Tax returns? Gift tax returns? Information about your parents Florida homestead and this reverse mortgage? Information about charitable gifts? Who gets the life insurance ? All this information is on the table and yours for the asking. But here are three tips to consider:

1. A probate court may limit discovery and certainly won’t let you go off on a fishing expedition. You have to demonstrate that you need the information about your folks’ wealth. Learning about your parents’ wealth in the probate administration in Florida must be “relevant.”
2. The probate court judge can make you pay for the information which you seek. How? If you make the estate incur attorneys fees or other costs for the information which you seek, the Florida probate judge can make you pay the estate for those attorneys fees and costs. The court also has the power to decrease your inheritance by the amount of fees and costs which you make the estate incur ! Don’t get burned. Don’t be a pain in the &*$ just to be a pain. If you need the information, go get it. Fight for it. But if the information is not relevant, or you really are just making work for the estate, the Florida court isn’t going to make the estate, or the other beneficiaries, foot the bill: you are by having your inheritance decreased. If your Florida inheritance is small or if the fees and costs are large, your inheritance can get wiped out. Welcome to the world of Florida probate litgation.
3. Ask the estate for the information. Take baby steps. Be professional. Demonstrate why you are asking for it and the need for this information. Most Florida probate lawyers who handle estate administration or probate legal issues are professional, knowledgeable and helpful. Start with that. If you don’t get what you are after, consider hiring an experienced probate litigator, one who handles probate trials and inheritance lawsuits.

Advocate hard. But….litigate smart.