Often times clients come in with tales of how a caretaker took  advantage or worse a personal representative got their appointment through fraud or undue influence. Experienced Palm Beach probate litigators know that you are going to need evidence to prove the case. How do you plan on proving your will contest to a jury? Check out this case out of the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Florida and remember the moral: without evidence there is no case!

Are you about to set up your West Palm Beach estate plan?  Do you have multiple children that you want to look after? There is a variety of unique arrangements you could make to allow your children access to your property for their lifetime. Do you know how to set up a West Palm Beach life estate? These valuable tenancies can ensure stability for the life of your children while also leaving you some authority over the property should they pass away before you. Want to learn more? Check out this interesting case just filed in Washington State’s Court of Appeals.

Did you parents establish a living trust to benefit you and  your brothers and sisters? Do you disagree with a court ordered distribution of the trust? You may have a right to appeal an improper distribution in West Palm Beach probate court. Check out this recent case out of the Court of Appeals in Nashville to learn more.

Have you been appointed to serve as personal representative  of your father’s Last Will and Testament? ExperiencedPalm Beach probate litigators know that these days an estate can have property from all over the globe and accounts that are held all over the country. Did your loved one travel in his old age and have no real place he called “home?” Maybe he spent his final years traveling visiting his children, maybe he was jet setting either way the question is the same – which probate court has jurisdiction over the will? Check out this case out of Massachusetts to learn more about jurisdiction over probate.

Trying to get attorneys fees in a Florida estate law case?   On August 14, 2015, Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal issued an opinion on Florida’s “offer of judgment” statute.  Ask any probate lawyer West Palm Beach and they may say that they don’t know much about Florida Statute 768.79. Sometimes called the “offer of judgment” law, this Florida attorneys fee statute is actually referred to as the proposal for settlement law.  But, ask any probate litigation lawyer West Palm Beach, and they will tell you that Florida law 768.79 and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 are very important estate lawsuit tactics to attempt, at times, to recover attorneys fees after a successful trial. Of course, or, perhaps alternatively, Florida’s offer of judgment law could also settle your probate lawsuit, such as tortuous interference with an expectancy or a will contest Boca Raton.  So, what can or should heirs at law, beneficiaries of Palm Beach probates and Florida trustees of revocable trusts know about Florida Law 768.79 and offers of judgment?  And…. why is this 1st DCA case in conflict with the Palm Beach Appeals court’s ruling on 768.79?

How do you preserve your Florida estate issue for appeal in a Florida probate lawsuit? Just yesterday,  I provided Florida estate commentary on a July 31, 2015 Florida probate appeal out of the 3rd DCA, the appeals court for Miami Dade probate matters.  In that probate case, which involved an ex wife making a claim against a Florida estate, the probate appeal failed. One of the issues at the Florida appellate court in this creditor claim case had to deal with the isssue of not preserving your appeal:   the appellate issue was not preserved in the Miami Dade probate court.  Are there some ways to preserve your Florida estate issues for appeal when you open up a Florida probate?  What should your Florida estate lawyer know about helping you with appeals when you are involved in estate lawsuits or probate disputes? And, if you are the Palm Beach executor of a will, or a Personal Representative, are there things which you can do now, to address possible appeals later?

Many Florida heirs at law and executors of wills in Palm Beach probates know that estate disputes can get expensive.  Probate lawyers in Florida are not cheap, especially those who actually try inheritance lawsuits, and are estate litigation law firms. So, when there’s a chance to get attorneys fees in a Florida probate, you need to understand how this can be done.  A recent,August 12, 2015 appeal from Miami Dade County deals with Florida’s proposal for settlement statute, also known as Fla. Statute 768.79 and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442.  While this August appeal from Dade County, Florida is not a probate case, it is a new opinion on Florida proposals for settlement and that Florida statute for attorneys fees.

Your probate lawyer West Palm Beach, if she or he handles probate trials, knows that Chapter 90 of the Florida laws =Florida Evidence Code.   So, in a Florida will contest or undue influence case Delray Beach,can you get the deceased person’s income taxes?   An August 12, 2015 Florida 4th District Court of Appeal case deals with the Florida accountant-client privilege and Florida Evidence Law Statute 90.5055. 

Are you concerned that a relative’s Last Will and Testament  seems suspicious? Has a caretaker been left almost the entire estate in a recently executed will or codicil? You may have grounds for a will contest in West Palm Beach but you will have to act quickly. Florida probate courts do not reward those that wait too long to file an action in probate court. Want to learn more? Check out these four things to know and consider before you file your will contest.

Are you concerned that a West Palm Beach trustee or  personal representative of an estate is going to sell property that should not be sold? Would the decedent have not wanted that? What about when a West Palm Beach guardian decides that they want to sell a relatives beach house in Palm Springs? You may want to learn a little bit about preliminary injunctions.These orders from the West Palm Beach trial court may be able to halt any sales of real estate or other assets that you want protected.