Should I ask for a jury trial in my Florida Probate Lawsuit? consider Florida probate case of In Re: Estate of Howard

One of the fundamental things all Americans know about the court system is the right to a jury. Is that right univeral? Do all probate proceedings include a right to trial by jury? Find out more out of this case from Florida’s First District Court of Appeals. 

Do I get a jury trial for my Florida probate lawsuit?

• In a criminal case the accused will have a jury unless they specifically request a trial by a judge (a bench trial) but its not so cut and dry in civil and probate matters.
• Traditionally a litigant has to request a jury trial failure to request or demand a trial may constitute a waiver.
• Some times, probate litigators Delray Beach actually make a demand for a jury trial…in Palm Beach probate !  What happens?
• If a cause of action or  inheritance lawsuit can be, or must be, heard by a jury trial, theprobate court will ,or may, transfer the matter to the trial division or civil division of Palm Beach County Clerks.

Should I ask for a jury trial for my probate fraud case?

• If you don’t demand a jury trial when you file your first probate Palm Beach Gardenscourt documents, you might waive your right to a jury trial.
• Also, in probate West Palm Beach, you don’t automatically get a jury trial.
• Some Florida laws or statutes may bar a person’s access to a jury, or just not state whether or not they grant a right to a jury trial.
• Historically, matters which are under the jurisdiction of the probate court are not subject to the constitutional right to a jury unlike a criminal case.
• Florida’s consititution came into effect in 1845 and preserves the right to trial by juryfor all matters which had a right to jury trial in 1845, nothing else is subject to constitutional protection as far as juries go.

So when will the Florida Court deny you a right to a jury trial?

• They did just that in the 1989 case of In re Estate of Howard, 542 So. 2d 395 / 14 Fla. L. Weekly 861, (Fla. 1st DCA 1989).
• Wife appealed from order of the Court in Duval County which struck her demand for ajury trial in probate adversary proceeding and finding that she is barred from receiving any benefits under her husband’s will or state law (i.e. intestancy) because she killed him.
• The Court noted how in 1845 there would be no right to a jury.
• Have you read Fla. Stat. 732.802 (Florida’s Murder Probate Statute)? It was pivotal in this case, and she was trying to get a jury to find it did not apply so that she could get her share of the estate.
• Under Florida’s elective share statute the wife is guarenteed 30%, so this trumps it? Why?

Want to check out the entire case? Just click here.