How many times have you been involved in a probate lawsuit, say, over a signed receipt & release Palm Beach probate document, and someone claims “I signed it, but I didn’t read it.” Or, consider all the Florida contract litigation or business lawsuits out there where you have a writing signed by someone and they then file a lawsuit and claim “I didn’t read it.” Here is an August 5, 2015 Miami Dade Appeals Court case dealing with a person who signed documents at a real estate closing and then sued the title company. Everyone involved in business litigation Palm Beach or contract lawsuits West Palm Beach and probate litigation should put this case in their files.
3 Important Points of Florida Contract Litigation
- As you might imagine, convenient amnesia, Monday-morning quarterbacking, second guessing and insincere cursory reviews of estate documents, Florida contracts andbusiness documents make their way into Florida appellate opinions all the time. Florida appeals courts write about people who want out of a probate mediation settlement agreement, or a Florida business contract or maybe a Boca Raton employment contract. Real estate purchase agreements? Option contracts? All the time. Arguing that you didn’t understand the mediated settlement agreement which you signed after mediating a probate will contest is a weak argument. Suggesting that you were tired when you reviewed the business contract Palm Beach is not your best day at a contract trial. Why?
- What can we say about Florida contract litigation that seems to apply to most or perhaps even all written documents?
- Most signed documents arrive at the courthouse door with a presumption of correctness. If you want to set a probate release aside, void a Florida business contract, or have a court overturn a Florida business deal, then know how you are going to use the rules of evidence, procedure and trial practice to make your case. And don’t argue inconsistent positions which weaken your case: if you sue forFlorida contract rescission or for the court to declare the Palm Beach contract void based on undue influence, well, it’s tough to ask for attorneys fees under that contract which you claim doesn’t exist. Note that arguing in the alternative is a different concept.
- People are held to be responsible for what they sign. There is an assumption that you read what you signed. Period. See the case of All Florida Surety Co. v. Coker, 88 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 1956). You can’t argue that you didn’t read it. What’s a better argument to void a Florida contract? Fraud ! Mistake! Coercion. Force. Pressure.
- Parties to a Florida contract enjoy the right to contract. Why does that matter inFlorida contract lawsuits? Because the freedom to contract includes the freedom to make a bad deal. Bottom line: the Palm Beach appeals court won’t save you from yourself and from signing a contract in Florida which you later don’t like.
Florida Real Estate Contract Lawsuit in Miami
- So, can you argue that you don’t read or speak English and that you don’t understand the Florida real estate contract or the other Florida closing documents which you signed at the real estate purchase closing?
- You can, but you will probably lose.
- In this recent case, the plaintiff did not speak or read English and said that she signed all the Florida real estate documents at the closing and made no attempt to have anyone explain the Florida real estate closing documents to her.
- See the case of Moreno v. First International Title, Inc., 2015 WL 4637238, 3D14-1896, 3rd DCA, August 5, 2015.
Here is a link so you can read a free copy of the legal opinion of the Florida Appellate Court: http://files.ctctcdn.com/99d573ab001/cb09c450-f13e-40e9-9c04-381b376016b2.pdf