Did you inherit some Palm Beach real estate with another from a Palm Beach estate or a Palm Beach trust?  Do you want to get out of owning the Palm Beach real estate with another?  Listen up.  A recent case could get you thousands.  Want your attorneys fees paid for by someone who is a co owner of Florida real estate with you? Well, in Florida, you can file a partition lawsuit. Maybe you got a big piece of land in western Palm Beach County, or a commercial property in Ft. Lauderdale from your late aunt’s Broward County probate.  

Are you in the middle of settling a Palm Beach estate case?  If you are going to a Palm Beach probate mediation or may sign a probate settlement agreement, you need to read this commentary and this recent case on Florida settlement agreements and Facebook.  Florida settlement agreements are contracts, requiring each party to actually adhere to the terms which they agreed to, in writing.  You can’t sign a settlement agreement on a Monday and then violate its terms on a Tuesday.  That’s called a “breach” under Florida law.  

Litigants to Palm Beach probate disputes know that the rules for appeals in Florida changed over a year ago.  Some Florida legal issues are not appealable until the end of the trial. Some legal issues may be appealed pre trial.  A February 26, 2014 Florida appeals case from the 2nd District Court of Appeal dealt with boundary disputes between Florida landowners, and a summary judgment order on a request for a permanent injunction. 

Lots of Palm Beachers have life insurance as part of their Florida estate plan.  Life insurance can be a GREAT asset or investment for you, your family and for many reasons.  The San Jose Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com, has reported that the largest life insurance policy  (ever) was purchased by a Silicon Valley tech exec.  Here’s the link to the San Jose Mercury News story about this $201 Million Life Insurance Policy: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25347898/silicon-valley-billionaire-sets-record-201-million-life.

Did you lose out on an inheritance due to a Palm Beach probate lawyer? Are you a beneficiary of someone’s Florida estate or last will?  Maybe a Florida revocable trust or an intended beneficiary of a gift?  If that will or gift failed, you need to read this case:  a corrected opinion was issued by Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal in a legal malpractice case involving, allegedly, the failure of a Florida attorney to properly prepare or write Florida legal documents gifting property. 

A March 12, 2014 Palm Beach guardianship appeal court opinion is a “must read” for any adult child who wants to be involved with his parent’s Palm Beach guardianship.   This Delray Beach guardianship case also demonstrates the limitations of the Florida Probate Code and the statutes which make up Florida guardianship law, including Chapter 744 of the Florida Probate Code.   This opinion may be a startling wake up call to children who delay or don’t get involved the guardianship of their parents.   Can you move your father out of the State of Florida ?

Punitive damages can be an important part of any Florida lawsuit.  In the Palm Beach probate setting, punitive damages are one consideration when fiduciaries do bad things.   Fiduciaries like trustees and personal representatives of Palm Beach estates can open themselves up to punitive damages if they do terrible things.  After all, a Palm Beach trustee or a Palm Beach executor of a Palm Beach probate is supposed to look out for and help its beneficiaries, right? 

If you are involved in a Palm Beach guardianship, you should know who’s going to pay your attorneys fees.  Who gets paid from the guardianship funds ?  Who doesn’t? If you are involved in a guardianship matter in Palm Beach County, Florida, or any Florida guardianship case for that matter, you must read this March 7, 2014 Florida guardianship appeals court opinion. If you are Palm Beach elder law lawyer or a Palm Beach guardianship attorney, you DEFINITELY need to read this guardianship opinion from Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal.

So, you purchase that beautiful Boca Raton condo and pay a premium — $50,000 for an extra parking space.  Then you die.  Now you have a   Palm Beach estate that has to deal with the Boca property.   The Boca Raton personal representative of your estate goes to sell the condo and wants a premium for the parking space. Only the condo board says the parking space doesn’t belong to the Boca Raton estate.  The    Boca probate lawyer   for the estate tells the board that the condo was held in the   decedent’s Boca Raton revocable trust, which is now an irrevocable Florida trust. 

To appeal an order from a Florida trial court awarding attorneys fees as a sanction, you need to wait til the end of the Florida lawsuit. Most Palm Beach probate litigators know that attorneys fees is an important part of estate lawsuits.  Sometimes, the attorneys fees in a probate lawsuit can approach the amount in controversy.  Probate litigation is expensive in Florida.  I’ve referred to probate attorneys fees or trust litigation attorneys fees as the “X” factor in Palm Beach probate litigation.