How long can a Florida Estate Formal Probate take? Obviously it depends on many factors including the complexity of estate documents , quantity of assets, numbers of heirs and of course estate planning in general. Florida Probate attorneys know that probate can take a long time, but you may be wondering just how long. A case out of the Georgia Court of Appeals this week shows the downside of making all of your five children personal representatives of your estate: a potential for thirty years of probate.
- The Georgia Court of Appeals recently handed down their decision “In re Estate of Wade” which was based on the 1982 will of a man, John Malcolm Wade who died in 1987.
- John had five children and appointed them all as executors (the Florida equivalent would be a Personal Representative) and required them to act unanimously in all disposals of assets.
- This latest issue arose over 25 years later after the fathers death as one of the five executors filed asking for the probate court to order an accounting. The other siblings chose to fight this and alleged that the sisters actions aided in the mismanagement of funds and thus she surrendered a right to an accounting.
- The court ultimately agreed with the co-executors noting that the sister who brought the motion for accounting had destroyed various important documents (not intentionally but through disregard) and thus was not entitled to an accounting.
Could this happen to you?
- This was not a huge estate, sure it was worth over one million dollars but this was not a billion dollar estate yet it had over thirty years of probate litigation.
- Its not uncommon for multiple children to be appointed as co-personal reps and this can add time to administration as both parties may have to elect all actions, needless to say it only gets more complicated the more siblings and the larger the estate you involve.