Did mom cut you out of her will or Florida estate? Did she leave you less in her will than you expected? Did her will leave a major portion of her estate to someone you did not expect to inherit?

Do you need help with a Florida estate? Maybe you live in Ohio, and your uncle Mo died in Boynton Beach, Florida. You get a call from someone who has your uncle’s will, which names you executor (or what we call in Florida: personal representative of the estate). Oh…..and the will gives you half of your uncle’s estate and the other half to your brother who hates you. What do you do?

What if your mother dies and she owned property in both Florida and another state, say, Massachusetts?  Can two states both have probates going on at the same time for her estate?  Which probate court wins?

Cut out of a will?  Dis-inherited?  What are you options in Florida? If you did not receive an inheritance under a Florida will or a Florida trust and you believe that this was caused by someone doing bad things, you may be able to sue for tortuous interference. 

Wonder what your inheritance rights are to a Florida trust or estate?  Many beneficiaries do.   In Florida, you are entitled to participate in the probate administration if you are a beneficiary under a Florida will.  So, if your grandmother from Boca Raton died and left a will which gave you, say, 1/3 of her Florida estate, you get to know what’s going on and will receive copies of probate documents. 

Palm Beach estate trial attorney and trust litigator John Pankauski will speak on prudent investing next Thursday, November 6th, 2013 at the Palm Beach Yacht Club on the intracoastal in West Palm Beach, Florida. www.pankauskilawfirm.com  Pankauski will draw on his experience as a Palm Beach lawyer handling trust disputes, investment loss cases and trust administration at “Fiduciary & Fixed Income Investment in a ‘New Norm’”. 

Are you serving as a trustee of a trust?  Maybe your mom or dad or great aunt created a revocable trust, also called a living trust, which is now an irrevocable trust since death.  What do you do as trustee and how to you stay out of trouble?  Will the trust beneficiaries sue you?  Well, if guidance is what you need, hold on a little longer. 

Are you the beneficiary of a Florida trust?  It’s no big secret that many trust beneficiaries in Florida don’t like trustees.  After all, a trust beneficiary needs to ask, or request, the Florida trustee for money, which the trust beneficiary may consider his or her, or his or her family’s, money.    No one likes to ask another for money, especially when you think it’s YOUR money.  So, beneficiaries need to check this angst before getting mad at trustees for investment losses. Be reflective and carefully analyze your angst with an experienced trust litigator or trust trial attorney. 

How do I serve as a Florida trustee? Are you asking yourself this question? Being a trustee in Florida is no easy business if you are an individual. After all, you aren’t a bank or trust company with bricks and mortar, a fiduciary committee, portfolio managers, economists and a team of trust administrators.

If you are a Florida executor or personal representative of a Florida estate, who is assisting you with the Florida probate administration ? Or, if you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate, who is handling the estate administration, and, is the process going smoothly?  Are good decisions being made and do you have all the facts? I know you probably have a good Florida probate lawyer, but…….   A good accountant or CPA firm can be of great help to not only the Florida executor, but also for the benefit of those the executor ultimately serves:  the beneficiaries of the Florida estate.