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Interpreting a Florida Will or Trust May Not Be as Easy as You Think- April 27, 2016 Fourth DCA Opinion

Uncategorized • Apr 28, 2016
post about Interpreting a Florida Will or Trust May Not Be as Easy as You Think- April 27, 2016 Fourth DCA Opinion

What happens if two people interpret a Florida trust differently? What if the language in a marital agreement or Florida will is unclear? How do the Florida probate courts determine what the true meaning of a provision should be? An April 27,2016 Fourth DCA case , Turk v.Turk,  demonstrates just how easy it is for people to read the same document but interpret it differently.

Interpreting Florida Will, Trusts, and Probate Documents

  • When an estate planning attorney West Palm Beach prepares an estate plan for you, such as a will or revocable trust, they try their best to make the document clear.
  • One thing Florida trust and estates attorneys need to do is identify who’s going to inherit money and how much.
  • If there’s a trust, they have to tell the trustee what to do with income and principal.
  • Interpreting a Florida trust or will should be easy ,but a probate lawyer Delray Beach can tell you that, often, it’s not.
  • You can ask any probate litigator Boca Raton if they frequently encounter contruction actions.
  • They will tell you  that it happens all of the time.
  • What is a construction action?
  • A construction action involves construing, or interpreting, what a written document says.
  • Construction actions occur to determine the meaning of contracts, deeds, marital settlement agreements, wills, trusts, etc.
  • In a construction action, one of he threshold issues is whether a provision is ambiguous or not.
  • A trust and estates litigator West Palm Beach can tell you that, just because two people look at a document and don’t agree with what it means, does not necessarily mean the document is ambiguous.
  • Most probate judges in Florida will read a document, or a provision, in a  trust and tell you whether they believe it is ambiguous.
  • If the judge does not believe it is ambiguous, the judge will rule and tell you what he interprets the document or provision to mean.
  • However, if the document is ambiguous, a probate court judge is permitted to hear parole evidence, intrinsic evidence, testimony , etc. to determine what was intended by the parties when the document was drafted.

Turk v. Turk

  • This case involves a marital settlement agreement between two divorcing parents who had a child.
  • Although this is a family law case, rather than a probate litigation case, it shows how provisions and documents can easily be interpreted in different ways, depending on who’s reading them.
  • There, there was a provision in the marital settlement agreement regarding the visitation rights that each parents would have.
  • The father read this provision to mean something completely different than the mother.
  • Judge Burton, from the circuit court in Palm Beach County, agreed with the mother’s interpretation, and the father appealed.
  • Judge Burton was overturned by the Fourth DCA on appeal.
  • Why do we point to a divorce case in Florida to talk about probate litigation and what Florida estate planning lawyers do?
  • Interpretation or construction actions are very common in Florida probate litigation.
  • It is important to keep in mind that, when drafting a will or preparing an estate plan, you should try to define what you want to say as closely and accurately as possible.
  • This way, it is less likely for a probate court Delray Beach to have to decide what you wanted to say.
  • Click here to read the entire case, which demonstrates why clearly stating what you want in your Florida trust is so important.

Want to know more about Florida probate litigation? Consider these free resources: