Should my Husband’s Estate have its own attorney in a Palm Beach will contest?

Is a relative’s will involved in a Palm Beach will contest? Has the court  allowed the action to proceed to an evidentiary hearing  or trial? Are you concerned, should my relative’s Delray Beach estate have its own independent attorney separate from the claimant’s? The answer that the Supreme Court of Vermont gave may surprise you.

Florida Probate Attorney

• In Florida in order to be a Personal Representative you may be forced to retain an attorney by the court.
• What happens if you, as the Personal Representative, have interests contrary to that of the estate? Is that even possible given your fiduciary duty? 
• As a general rule it is a good idea to retain counsel (an attorney) to make an informed decision on West Palm Beach probate issues.
•  If the court does not appoint an estate counsel, is that reversible error on appeal?

In re Estate of Venheim

• The Supreme Court of Vermont regularly reviews every type of case involved in Vermont law, including probate issues. The tribunal handed down its decision regarding the case of In re Estate of Venheim on April 1, 2015.
• A free copy of the entire case is available at the bottom of this post!
• In Vermont wills are “allowed” into probate and if someone does not want that to happen (in Florida, a will contest) that person motions to not allow the will into probate.
• In a previous decision a lower court had set aside the will of Mr. Venheim on grounds offraud but this decision was reversed by the appellate court. Now on appeal yet again the Supreme Court upheld the will contest and had to examine a new argument proposed by the litigants.
• The son of the decedent had alleged that since the interests of the executor of the will was contrary to that of the estate, the estate needed its own attorney. The son argued that failure to give such counsel resulted in an error in the lower courts. Do you agree?

In Rem Jurisdiction

• The court ultimately ruled against the son’s argument and stated that the estate is a piece of property in a will admission, and that the case involved in rem jurisdiction. 
• Do you know what that is?
• The court was saying that the estate itself is not a party to the proceeding so it has no rights. In fact the estate is the subject of the case or the item in controversy.
• Why does this matter for my Palm Beach Probate matter?
• The court grounded its decision on the legal fact that an executor with no claims on assets of an estate has no standing to appeal disallowance of a will that appoints the party as executor.
• Does that make sense?
• Should the executor or personal representative really have no remedy in such a case?
•  Should the court be concerned about their rights?

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