In Florida there is a notion that the goal of courts is to make an injured party whole, and usually nothing more- a rare exception is punitive damages. If a Court feels that for some reason a party is double dipping then they can set-off an award by the other contributions. Is that fair? If you got your day in court and won, would you want your award reduced based on other settlements?
Trustees make important decisions everyday on what is the best financial decisions for the sake of beneficiaries of a family trust. Who’s investing those millions that grandmother left in that Boca Raton living trust anyway? These guys are not fortune tellers and trustees do make mistakes – but when they do, who has to pay for it? Is a Palm Beach trustee on the hook for that bad investment? Check the terms of your trust document Delray Beach, and remember not all bad decisions create liability.
Do you know what punitive damages are and why they are so important to your recovery of damages? Arepunitive damages appropriate when claiming that someone intentionally interferred with your inheritance? Learn more from a recent case out of the Third District Court of Appealsabout punitive damages.
Can the exact same issue be litigated in multiple Courts? Do you remember OJ Simpson being acquitted of murder, did you know he was still found liable for millions in civil court? So can you just file in every court and hope for the best result? If so what happens to those other results that were contrary to your interests? How do you know which venue is preferable? Civil or Probate Court? Probate court is where you probate a will in other words that is the only place you can probate a will and it is thus also where Palm Beach Probate Litigators usually challenge wills based on fraud, duress, undue influence or lack of testamentary capacity. The same actions that may invalidate a will may also be tortious (making an actor civilly liable), whats more they may actually be criminally liable for other issues like exploitation of the elderly and criminal fraud. Courts tend to frown on multiple cases litigating the same issue and as such may dismiss other cases or consolidate them all into one court. Fackel v. Zwicker, March 30, 2015: Pick your forum carefully The trial court dismissed a plaintiffs complaint in civil court for the Illinois equivalent of tortious interference with an inheritance or expectancy interest because he was also contesting the will in the Illinois probate court. Could the Plaintiff have sought relief in the civil court? Seems likely, but they had already chosen to file in Probate Court. Do you know the difference between these two courts? They have different rules of procedure, but how are they actually different? Palm Beach Probate Litigators […]
In order to bring something to a court’s attention you have to have standing which in probate usually means that you have to be an interested party to the adversarial probate proceeding. Do you know what that means? If you are deemed an interested party can you file any type of motion or proceeding relating to the will / probate that you want? The answer out of the Supreme Court of Montana may suprise you. Is it the same for Florida Probate?
Guardianship in Florida is used to protect children and the mentally incompetent to ensure that they are cared for if they lack the ability to do it themselves. Professional Guardians are becoming more and more common and family guardianship is also still very popular. When you assign guardianship to another individual you may be at their whims as to the social allowances of the ward and that may mean you lack access to your own family members. Have you considered the intricacies of selecting a guardian to control the social life of your incapacitated relative in Florida?
Litigation can be expensive and often probate litigation can be a double edged sword where you may see the trust paying for actions taken on behalf of the trustee. But did you know there are other situations where you may be on the hook for attorney’s fees if you do not take a reasonable settlement offer? Learn how Offer of Judgment rules in Florida may have you on the hook for attorney’s fees from this Fourth DCA Case Hoang Dinh Duong M.D. et. al. v. Ziadie, No. 4Daa-1492 Dec. 17, 2014. Offer of Judgment is a term for an offer of settlement, and in Florida if you are given a reasonable offer of judgment and refuse it and go to trial, you may be on the hook for attorney’s fees. But how can you be sure that an offer is reasonable? Its determined after the fact by looking to how close the trial or jury verdict is to the original Offer of Judgment that you were given. Is it wise for you to take this offer of settlement? So if you are suing in West Palm Beach for intentional interference with an expectancy or inheritance how do you know if you should take the offer? Whats worse what if you make the wrong call? Is that it? What if the offer was ambiguous. A group of plaintiffs was suing a doctor for mal-practice and they were given an offer of judgment that they did not take Ultimately the jury found for a […]
Do you have to get a Palm Beach Probate litigator to handle your probate matter? What benefits can a lawyer guarentee you in West Palm Beach Probate Court? Does going Pro-se mean that you may be fighting an up hill battle, ones that you may not be prepared to fight alone? A case out of the Court of Appeals in Minnesotta shows how one lucky pro-se litigant may have never gotten the relief needed had they not been prepared for the uphill battle (a probate appeal, pro se).
One of the fundamental things all Americans know about the court system is the right to a jury. Is that right univeral? Do all probate proceedings include a right to trial by jury? Find out more out of this case from Florida’s First District Court of Appeals.
Wish your estate lawsuit was over? Sick of the probate lawyers Boca Raton or all the legal expenses for your will challenge Delray Beach? If you truly want your probate lawsuit, your will challenge, or estate case West Palm Beach to end, here are 5 things to consider in getting done with the estatelitigation. After all, don’t you have better things to do with your time than spend it in Palm Beach Probate?