INHERITANCE LAWSUITS IN FLORIDA ESTATES & PROBATES: what are they ?

What is an inheritance lawsuit?

If someone you know has passed away, or just died, like a mom or a dad, maybe an aunt who retired to Florida, that person had a Florida estate. That Florida citizen had property which passes or “goes to” his or her chosen beneficiaries. Sometimes that money or property is inherited quickly and easily. One example is a Florida joint bank account, or a life insurance policy on the life of the dead Florida resident. You get a death certificate to the bank or the insurance company, and proof of who you are, present your ID, and the money is yours, right?

Most of the time, estate assets can pass without hindrance. However, many times, beneficiaries, family members, heirs and descendants disagree on how assets are to be distributed-or inherited. Even when the Florida will is crystal clear !

What some family members or beneficiaries fail to realize, or perhaps are merely frustrated by, is the following: the decision to leave an inheritance is NOT your decision. Leaving an inheritance is determined by the person making the will, by the person who is leaving the estate.

An adult child may feel that that a joint bank account which you inherited should be split evenly among you and your and brothers and sisters. You may feel hurt if dad left you only 20% of the estate and gave the rest to your brother. You may not get along with your sister, who was put in charge of the estate and named the Florida personal representative.

Some of you who believe you were treated unfairly in a will or a Florida estate decide to litigate: you file a probate lawsuit, sometimes referred to as an inheritance lawsuit. You are “fighting” over an inheritance.

Inheritance litigation or inheritance lawsuits involves those that may be, or may believe they are, entitled to an inheritance arguing about “who gets what.” They fight over the trust, the house, the IRA or the whole estate.

Inheritance litigation is often done, or accomplished, by interpreting a will, or determining whether a gift of shares of stock was valid or not, or determining whether a will or a trust or an amendment or codicil was proper.

Inheritance litigation in Florida is often “played out” in a Florida probate court. The three counties in south east Florida, namely Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, each have probate “divisions” in their court systems. The probate division of the Florida courts handles the administration of estates, the probates, and guardianship and trust lawsuits. You typically don’t get a jury trial in probate court. One exception to this rule is if you are involve in probate litigation which involves a claim for fraud or tortuous interference with an inheritance. In that case, you may be entitled to a jury trial.

So, inheritance lawsuits involve those that have an interest in an estate, and those that may believe they have an interest in an estate or a Florida probate. Inheritance lawsuits in Florida involve determining the property interests of these “legal actors” and, in the end, who gets what.

How you get your day in court is important and strategic. What type of inheritance lawsuit do you file? Where do you file it? What do you say in it? And what are your damages?  What are your chances of winning?

So, what’s your inheritance lawsuit strategy?