Florida residents, and heirs and family members who inherit from Florida estates and trusts, may participate in the estate administration process.  For Florida residents, that forum is the probate court, where an estate has been “opened up”.  An estate of a deceased Florida resident is opened up , or a probate administration is brought, by filing a petition in the county where the Florida resident resided. 

Are you involved in probate litigation? ….. A dispute involving an inheritance, a trust , a bank account or Florida real property?   If you are, the law does not help those who sit on their rights, but rather assists those who exercise those rights.  Many know that one must file a lawsuit to enforce your rights to a probate, in an estate, or to property within the appropriate statute of limitations.  Failure to timely file a lawsuit prevents you from seeking relief. 

Dealing with an appeal of a Florida probate matter?  Talk to Allison R. Sabocik of the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, who leads this probate litigation and estate administration law firm’s appellate practice in Palm Beach County, Florida.  Florida probate appellate attorney Allison R. Sabocik prevailed at the appellate court for Palm Beach County, Florida, obtaining success and a significant victory for her client.  Attorney Sabocik represents an estate and the personal representative of an estate being administered in probate court at the South County Courthouse, Delray Beach, Florida. 

Are you trying to set aside a Florida trust document or a Florida trust amendment, or even a Florida Trust Restatement–based upon undue influence, fraud or lack of mental capacity? In Florida, if you are contesting, or attacking, a trust document, consider three important points which may be vital to a successful lawsuit.  Florida law has unique caselaw and rules for not only procedure, but also substantive matters, which may affect your Florida trust litigation. 

Involved in Florida litigation involving wills, trusts and estates?  I’m sure that your attorney has advised you that should you lose, or not prevail, on one or more issues throughout the case, let alone your entire case or matter, you may be responsible for paying the other side’s attorney fees. 

Can someone in a Florida probate or trust case testify about the dead person’s state of mind?  ….. How about what the dead person thought or was intending to do?  Florida probate attorneys who handle disputes and lawsuits involving wills, trusts and estates know that what the decedent was thinking is often very, very important. 

Can someone you’ve never met before inherit?  Can a child you never planned for and who is born after you die become a trust beneficiary?  In Florida, probate litigators are used to dealing with second and third spouses, children from a prior relationship, sibling rivalry, and disgruntled heirs.  Now, Florida probate attorneys and estate administrators are dealing with the collision of the law and science.

Florida probate attorneys involved in litigation of wills, trusts and estates know the importance of the discovery process.  Trial lawyers, after all, must find out the facts and then have a judge apply the law to those facts.  Discovery is the fact-finding part of probate litigation.   What were the facts and circumstances surrounding the signing of a will?  Why was the trust amended to dis-inherit someone?  What was mom’s mental state when she made a gift of $1,000,000:  did she have mental capacity?  Was there undue influence when Dad left his estate under his will to a girlfriend he only knew for a year? 

Florida probate lawyers are often involved in family inheritance “fights” or disputes.   Florida probate litigators argue and advocate on behalf of people who may be related by blood or money.   There are often times disagreements and disputes and trials in Florida probate matters and Florida estates.   Who should win in a Florida estate dispute:  the dead person’s girlfriend or his minor child? 

Is a handwritten will which is valid in another state valid in Florida?   A recent case has asked the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in on this.  Florida wills must be in writing and signed at the end of the will by the person making the will, in the presence of two witnesses who likewise sign the will.   The will must be typewritten, or, what others may now call, computer-generated. In other words, Florida courts do not recognize handwritten wills.