When can you appeal an issue or judgment which your probate lawyers Florida just dealt with at trial or at an evidentiary hearing? The ability to appeal an order or ruling now, rather than waiting for the end to your inheritance trial, can often create leverage or bargaining power, for people such as heirs at law or trust beneficiaries when they are involved in estate lawsuits Palm Beach. The Florida appeals rules changed over the last couple of years, with many probate appeals more accessible than ever before; or, put another way, your Boca Raton estate litigator can now appeal a number of rulings–not all of them– without having to wait until the end of yourtortious interference with an expectacy case, or after an inheritance trial such as a will contestor petition to revoke probate. BUT, if you file a frivilous probate appeal, that can cost you. Consider reading this November 25, 2015 Florida 4th DCA appeal case, whose opinion was just handed down. While it does not appear to be a probate case Florida, it holds a veryimportant point of Florida appeals law. The case is Cosner v. Park, Case No. 4D14-2543, 40 Fla. L. Weekly D 2632: http://4dca.org/opinions/Nov.%202015/11-25-15/4D14-2543.op.pdf
Why I Am Getting Sanctions Entered Against Me in My Palm Beach Probate?
- Anytime a beneficiary of a Florida trust or probate engages in frivolous filings such as ameritless complaint or lawsuit such as a will contest, or raises an issue which is not supported by the facts or the law, that beneficiary or family member to a large Jupiter estate can be sanctioned
- A sanction is a fine or a reprimand or punishment by the Palm Beach Gardens probate court
- Ask any estate lawyers Florida and they will tell you that when clients file “stuff” in the court that is baseless, judges sanction such conduct
- Take, for example a so called 57.105 motion
- What is a 57.105 motion in Florida estate lawsuits?
- Section 57.105 Florida Statutes is a means to get attorneys fees from the other side for filing a baseless claim or defense
- 57.105 punishes a beneficiary or a personal representative ,or anyone for that matter, for pursuing something in an estate proceeding or lawsuit which is not based upon the facts and the law
- An estate litigation law firm Florida might file a 57.105 motion against the person who filed the baseless or frivilous matter and if you win that motion, the other side and his or her probate lawyers have to pay attorneys fees
- The same principles apply to frivilous probate appeals and appeals of guardianshipand trust matters under the rules of Florida appellate practice and the rules of appellate procedure
- You can read the statute 57.105 here: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0000-0099/0057/Sections/0057.105.html
- So, how do you know when your client or Florida probate litigator wants to file afrivilous appeal which might open you up to sanctions and paying the other sides’ attorneys fees?
- A frivolous estate appeal is one which raises arguments a reasonable lawyer would either know or should know are not well grounded in fact, or would know are not warranted either by existing law or by a reasonable argument for the extension, modification or reversal of existing law. This 4th DCA case cites the case of Visoly v. Sec. Pac. Credit Corp., 768 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2000).
- Appellate attorneys fees Florida my be granted in defending a meritless appeal under57.105
- Florida appeals courts can award appellate attorneys fees under 57.105