Are you the beneficiary of a Florida trust? …… Don’t like your inheritance held in trust by a Florida trustee?  Do you have options as a Florida beneficiary?  You do: you may.  Florida trust lawyers from Palm Beach Gardens down to Ft. Lauderdale are familiar with the Florida trust code:  Florida law of trusts. 

For good or ill, guardianship litigation has exploded in South Florida.   Probate Courts and probate judges in Broward County, Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County, Florida preside over guardianship trials more than ever.   Florida elder law lawyers and lawyers who assist senior citizens have seen their practices get bigger and their client list get longer.  Now, probate lawyers and Florida lawyers who prepare wills and trusts in smaller communities like Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Aventura and Plantation are adding guardianship matters to their list of legal services which they provide.

Are you the beneficiary of a Florida estate?  Are you receiving documents from some Florida probate lawyer regarding a probate administration in Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach County, Florida and trying to figure out who’s who? Consider this:  your rich uncle died in Boca Raton, Florida and his estate is being “probated” in the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach by his Florida estate lawyer.   Your uncle’s will names his attorney as the “personal representative.”  You receive a notice of administration in the mail and a letter from the Florida estate lawyer, saying that he or she is the “personal representative” and that his or her law firm is acting as his or her counsel. 

Waiting on your inheritance from a Florida estate or a Florida probate administration?   …….And the Florida personal representative wants you to sign documents which makes you wonder: where’s my inheritance and what’s taking so long? If you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate, you may be wondering why you have not received your inheritance yet.   While many beneficiaries may be referred to as impatient, understanding how the Florida probate process, or the Florida probate administration, closes or ends may be helpful.

Why are there three probate courthouses in Palm Beach County, Florida?   If you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate or a Florida trust, or are involved in a probate administration or estate administration in Palm Beach, you might be confused.  It may be more correct to state that there are three courthouses in Palm Beach County, and within those courthouses, there are probate divisions or probate judges who hear cases on Florida wills, trusts, estates and guardianships.  

Are you pleased with the way your Florida trustee is investing?   Are you the beneficiary of a Florida trust and wonder how your Florida trustee is doing as the stock market hits new highs?  Is your trustee encouraged by the surging stock market…….or negative and scared?  In Florida, Florida trust lawyers who represent trustees know that trust investing is not necessarily easy. 

Can a beneficiary of a Florida estate or a  Florida trust obtain punitive damages when involved in a probate litigation or a trust litigation lawsuit?   Heirs, family members and beneficiaries who inherit under a Florida will or a trust who are involved in litigation want damages.  In fact, in Florida, damages are often an important last element to proving your case.  In courtrooms across south Florida, like Palm Beach Gardens, Ft. Lauderdale or Delray Beach, you must demonstrate how you have been injured or wronged:  what are you damages?  Sometimes the question arises: can you get punitive damages in a Florida estate or a Florida trust case?

Florida probate litigation is a growth industry, for good or bad.  Whether that means that beneficiaries, heirs and children of a Florida estate or Florida trust are getting the legal help they need, or whether there are too many inheritance fights or inheritance disuptes, is left to another discussion. Regardless, children and heirs, and beneficiaries under a Florida will, are engaging in disputes (fights) over family wealth and wills throughout South Florida: from Palm Beach Gardens in Palm Beach County, down the coast to Aventura and Miami-Dade County, Florida. 

Do you understand everything you need to know about Florida trusts?  Are you a trust beneficiary of a Florida trust?  Do you need guidance from a Florida trust lawyer or Florida trustee?  In Florida, many probate lawyers and trust lawyers in cities like Jupiter, Florida, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, down to West Palm Beach draft trusts for the benefit of their Florida clients.  In many instances, Florida law will apply to the administration and interpretation of the Florida trust.

Are you a beneficiary of a Florida trust and not getting enough income?  Florida trust beneficiaries have been frustrated being an income beneficiary in a period of such historically low, and consistently low, interest rates.   After all, government debt is paying in the 2% range and although many companies have increased dividends over the recent past, the average dividend rate for many stocks remains in the 2% range as well.  What is a trust beneficiary of  a Florida trust to do?  Consider a person who retired to Boynton Beach, or Delray Beach, or Lake Worth, or who resides in Boca Raton and created a trust which pays you the income.  The trust creator is also called the  settlor or grantor of the  Florida trust.