When can you freeze an account or get an injunction over financial assets? Are you involved in probate litigation involving estates, Palm Beach inheritances and/or trusts? Has a trustee, or someone who had access to someone’s money, misused a power of attorney or improperly taken money?
Can a Florida divorce court compel one of the spouses who is divorcing to keep a life insurance policy even after divorce? Although we are probate lawyers, not family law lawyers, we frequently get contacted regarding the issue of life insurance . Many times, we get calls from family law and divorce lawyers, or people who were a party to a divorce, when one of the spouses passes away. The Florida lawyer or spouse calling realizes that they may be a creditor of the deceased ex-spouse’s Florida estate.
Are you involved in a guardianship in Florida? Are you facing a guardianship hearing in West Palm Beach or Miami? Do you need an experienced guardianship lawyer? Has your right to contract been taken away from you in a guardianship proceeding? If you are facing an incapacity proceeding, but have not yet been determined to be incompetent, can you hire your own Florida lawyer? What if you already HAVE been deemed incapacitated by the Florida guardianship court? You may want to read a recent Third DCA opinion, Jacobsen v. Busko.
Are you involved in a West Palm Beach guardianship? Does the ward want to hire a guardianship lawyer to represent him or her in the Palm Beach guardianship proceedings? Did you know that, if you are deemed incapacitated by the court, important rights may be removed from you? Can a ward choose which Florida guardianship attorney he or she wants to hire? A recent Third DCA opinion, Jacobsen v. Busko, answers these questions.
Are you the ward in a Florida guardianship? Have you been deemed incapacitated and appointed a guardian to represent your interests? What is a guardianship in Florida? Can a ward hire a guardianship lawyer? What happens if a ward contacts a lawyer directly to hire him or her? You may want to read a December 19, 2018 Third DCA opinion.
Florida Statute 732.501 states that any person who is of a sound mind and who is 18 years or older may execute a Florida will. Florida probate lawyers and West Palm Beach trust attorneys know that a person needs to have testamentary capacity when they execute a will. Otherwise, their Florida will may end up being contested by the beneficiaries.
What is an “afterborn heir”? When does the right to inherit vest? Florida probate litigators know that the right to inherit begins at the time of conception. What if the child was not born before his or her parents passed away? It doesn’t matter! The child still inherits. If you are carrying the unborn child of the decedent, you should definitely read Florida Statute 732.106.
Many times when handling a contested dispute in a probate or estate, a petition for the appointment of a curator is filed. What is a curator? What do curators do? How are they different than a Florida personal representative or executor? How are they different than guardians ad litem or administrators ad litem?
What is Florida Statute 90.502? Is this an important part of Florida’s Evidence Code? What are the exception to attorney-client privilege according to this Florida Statute? You may want to read Vasallo v. Bean, a recent case from Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
What should Florida probate lawyers know about conflicts of interest? Can a West Palm Beach trust attorney be disqualified due to a conflict of interest? Under what circumstances should an Orlando estate lawyer be disqualified? You may want to read a January 5, 2018 Second DCA opinion, Furman v. Furman.