Was the story about a wise judge (or was it king) splitting the baby between two upset parties the story of the bible or Palm Beach Probate? Turns out both. A hearing last year in the case of Wilson v. Wilson was meant to determine which parent of a divorced couple would get the remains of their son after his untimely death. A ruling last may actually ruled that the remains could not be split in half.
Do family members and heirs fight over the remains in Palm Beach probate?
- Believe it or not, when someone dies in Palm Beach County, Florida and there is a Palm Beach probate, family members disagree about burial and who gets the remains if one is cremated
- Families fight in Palm Beach probate with their probate lawyer Palm Beach over burial instructions
- Scott Wilson, 23, was killed in 2010 in a drunk driving accident that resulted in Palm Beach polo magnate John Goodman being sentanced to 16 years in prison for vehicular homicide.
- Wilsons parents are divorced and they have split a $46 million dollar settlement from their civil lawsuit against Goodman which settled in 2012.
- Wilsons ashes were stoed in a funeral home for more than four years while his parents fought over the legal question of whether the remains are divisible like any other asset in probate court.
- William Wilson (the father) opened a probate case in 2010 and sought that the remains be declared property and the ashes split so that he could bury his portion in a family burial plot in Georgia. Lili Wilson the mother for religious reasons wishes that they not be deemed property and not be split rather she wishes them to stay near her West Palm Beach home.
- A state appeals court ruling in May upheld a decision that the remains are not property citing commentary by 18th century jurist Sir William Blackston as well as case law from the 19th century in England. Clearly Florida courts did not have a lot of dicta on this issue.
Points to consider.
- Should anyone consider their sons remains property?
- Cant something be split up without being property?
- Probate court are literally designed around taking care of the problems surrounding death and items of intrinsic and extrinsic value to people, shouldnt this be an issue they can tackle with logic and noth 200 year old commentary?
- If the goal was to just look to old stories is anyone suprised they did not bring up the biblical story of the baby and the wise king who suggested splitting it?