Did someone die in Florida who owed you money? Maybe he or she was supposed to do something under a martial settlement agreement from a Florida divorce, or transfer title to real estate for you — and didn’t–and then died. Now you have to go from dealing with a Family Law attorney to a Boca Raton probate lawyer? Yea, pretty much. Here is some information about your rights as a creditor to a deceased Florida resident, and, since death, his or her estate. It is based on a very important probate appeal from the Florida Supreme Court. As you ‘ll see, this important case is for any creditor who has a statement of claim or who needs to file a statement of claim, whether you are in Naples, Florida or Delray Beach. And whether you are an ex-spouse, former spouse, business partner, contract party, had a prenuptial agreement or any “deal.” If you are owed money by someone who died, tell your Florida estate litigation attorney to read the October 1, 2015 Golden v. Jones case, 176 So. 3d 242 (Fla. 2015).
How Do I Make a Claim in the Florida Probate?
- If your late spouse did not do something for you that they were supposed to do in a Florida divorce, and that spouse died, then you are a creditor of his or her estate.
- Ask your Florida divorce attorney what probate rules you need to know about to open up a Palm Beach probate and file a claim, a creditor’s claim.
- But be careful: you only have a very limited amount of time to make a claim in someone’s estate.
- And if there’s no estate that is open, you need to hire a Florida probate attorney to open the estate and make your claim.
- But so called statements of claim and probate claims are not just for someone who did not comply with a divorce order or marital settlement agreement.
- No, if the deceased Florida resident owed you money or was supposed to do something under a contract, then you also are a creditor and you need to make your claim.
What Florida Estate Lawyers Need to Know About Probate Claims
- Almost nine months ago, the Florida Supreme Court came out with the Golden v. Jones case, which is perhaps the most important estate creditor case in years.
- I’ll summarize the important points below, but you or your Florida estate attorney or Palm Beach probate litigation law firm need to know the Golden v. Jones case cold, and also know how long you have to file a claim.
- Read this important estate creditor Florida Supreme Court case, Golden v. Jones, here: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2015/sc13-2536.pdf
- If you are a creditor of the estate who is known to be a creditor, or should be known as a creditor by the estate, you are entitled to service, or actual notice–something sent to you or mailed to your residence or served upon you.
- Probate attorneys in Florida call this type of creditor a creditor who is known or reasonably ascertainable
- In other words, the personal representative of the Florida probate should know that the deceased person owed you something and that you will probably make a claim in the estate
- Other creditors who are not known or reasonably ascertainable are just “creditors.”
- The actual notice which the personal representative of the estate is supposed to give to a known creditor is “served” upon you and tells you that you have to file your estate claim in the Florida probate by the later of 30 days after you receive this actual notice or 3 months after there is a newspaper publication of a notice to creditors.
- You see, in Florida, they publish a notice to credtitors 2 times, once a week for two consecutive weeks, in a local newspaper.
- This very short time frame is a statute of limitations. See Florida Probate CodeSection 733.702: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0733/Sections/0733.702.html
- You can ONLY get more time to file a claim if you seek an extension of time by proving fraud or estoppel or insufficient notice of the claims period. Estate litigators in Florida will tell you that that is a high hurdle. So don’t delay. File your claim asap.
- Now, if you are a known creditor and you were not served with actual notice, then you have 2 years to make your claim. Florida Probate Code 733.710: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0733/Sections/0733.710.html
- In no instance can you bring a claim more than 2 years after the death of the Florida decedent.
- Finally, you can read more about creditors in estates by reading the Florida probate rules for free at this link:http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/0/6C2FEF97C5969ACD85256B29004BFA12/$FILE/Probate.pdf