How Good of a Writer is Your Florida Trust Litigation Attorney: does it even matter?
Is your probate lawyer or appellate litigator a good writer? A recent proposal to reduce the number of words in legal briefs filed in federal appeals court seems to have been decided with a compromise.
Now your federal appeals lawyer must limit his or her legal brief to 13,000 words instead of 14,000. A proposal had sought a reduction of 1,500 words in a federal appellate brief, but some commentators suggested that that was too much of a reduction. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/business/dealbook/judges-push-brevity-in-briefs-and-get-a-torrent-of-arguments.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=11&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F10%2F04%2Fbusiness%2Fdealbook%2Fjudges-push-brevity-in-briefs-and-get-a-torrent-of-arguments.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0
So, does this even matter to your Florida estate litigation law firm? After all, aren’t most will contests and inheritance lawsuits in state court, a probate court, instead of federal court? Well, yes, that is true. Probates in Florida are “opened,” or administered, in the Circuit Court of the county where the person resided when they died. Within the Circuit Court there is a Probate Division. In Palm Beach County, there are Probate Divisions in Palm Beach Gardens, in West Palm Beach, and also in Delray Beach. There are actually multiple divisions of probate courts in the 15th Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County.
But, what about going to federal court? Well, the truth is that you CAN go to federal court for some inheritance lawsuits in Florida. Which ones? Well, you can exercise your rights to sue for fraud or tort, such as the tort, or civil wrong, of tortious interference with an inheritance, sometimes referred to as tortious interference with an expectancy. What if someone took your mother’s or father’s, or aunt’s, bank accounts that you were supposed to inherit? What if someone removed you as beneficiary of a life insurance policy improperly? Well, inheritance lawsuits in Florida for civil theft or conversion or fraud may get you to federal court. But remember: there are jurisdictional hurdles to getting to federal court, such as diversity of citizenship and also the amount in controversy (how much are you “fighting” over?).
Finally, remember that there are procedural hurdles to get over before you have your trial on your inheritance lawsuit. Perhaps the most common one is that if you are trying overturn a will in a probate case, you can’t sue someone for tortious interference with an expectancy or inheritance until the “probate remedies” are exhausted. That often means that you must have a trial in probate court, first, on whether the will is valid or not.
BUT, if you are suing over an asset or piece of property that is unrelated to the will, such as suing a person for stealing your bank account, or annuity, you generally can go sue that person, that “wrongdoer,” now, without regard to the will and whether the Florida will is valid or not under the Florida Probate Code. Just remember: you have achieve the correct jurisdictional requirements to get into federal court. So talk to a probate litigation attorney who is actually admitted to the federal courts in Florida.
Oh yes, what about a trust lawsuit? Can you sue a trustee or other legal actor in federal court if you have diversity of citizenship and also the correct “amount in controversy?” The answer: yes. Just make sure your estate or trust litigation law firm knows about the limitations of words in their appeals briefs if you end up with a federal appeal of your inheritance lawsuit.