The Most Important Part of Your Probate Damages Your Florida Probate Litigator Better Not Forget: November 9, 2015 1st DCA

Every probate lawyer Florida knows that you need to prove each & every element of every count or cause of actionwhich you file as a plaintiff in your probate lawsuit Palm Beach.  If you don’t prove any part of each count to your complaint at trial, that count will fail.  Your estate lawyers, if they handletrials & probate appeals, know that in Florida, you also have to prove damages.   Damagesis usually the last element to any estate cause of action, or any lawsuit for, say, tortuous interference with an expectancy, or any conversion lawsuit over a bank account or IRA. If you win your estate lawsuit Florida, then your probate litigation law firm should also see if they can get pre-judgment interest.   Here is a November 9, 2015 1st DCA case which speaks about the tort of conversion and prejudgment interest on Florida judgments.  You can read the case at 40 Fla. L. Weekly D 2527 or you can click on this link to read the entire appellate opinion for free:https://edca.1dca.org/DCADocs/2015/0302/150302_1286_11202015_041801_i.pdf Note that this case is not a probate case.  It is a recent contract lawsuit Florida, which is often handled by commercial litigation law firms Florida.  But understand that the tort or civil wrong ofconversion, and applicable case law on getting interest in your Florida lawsuit, applies in probate and commercial litigation lawsuits Florida.

Proving Damages in Probate Litigation Florida

• So, proving damages in a bank account Florida or POD cases of conversion is very focussed
• One question which your probate litigators Florida will consider, or may consider, is how you will prove damages.  Do you get bank account statements into evidence? Do you actually need a damage expert to come and testify?
• If someone took a bank account which was not theirs, the personal representative of the Palm Beach probate can hire a probate litigation law firm West Palm Beach to sue toget the bank account bank
• In that example, the damages are pretty concise and clear: the value of the bank account at the time of the conversion, plus interest
• In fairness, interest is not technically damages, although your estate lawyers Florida should always include it in every damage model they have both at mediation and atyour probate trial.  And, in fairness, interest may not be the most important part of your damages in a Florida lawsuit, but my point is: don’t forget the interest ! When you have lawsuits which take a few years, and then there is an appeal, the interest calculation, just like attorneys fees, adds up and can be a BIG factor in settling your case, or how much you finally recover when the lawsuit finally ends.
• Interest is also usually considered part of any recovery which your probate litigation lawyers Florida may receive a contingency fee on, should you win at trial, or by settlement at mediation, and obtain a recovery
• Is interest, pre judgment interest or and post judgment interest, part of your contingency fee for your case?
• Many times, good estate litigators will take a bank account case or joint account withright of survivorship, so called JTROS, cases, on a contingency fee because the law is very focussed, and somewhat clear.  Of course, the “X factor” is the facts….who took the POD account and why did they take the joint bank account Florida ?
• Note that there is a difference between post-judgment interest and pre-judgment interest in Florida
• Post judgment interest has been described as a mere mathematical calculation required by the prevaling party or the trial court in finalizing a judgment
• Prejudgment interest may require a bit more attention from your Florida trust lawyers

Can I Get Pre Judgment Interest in Florida for a Conversion Lawsuit?

• In this recent case, Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida, Inc. v. State of Florida, the court dealt with a contract and conversion
• Conversion in Florida, was defined by the appellate court in the opinion
• Many estate lawyers in Florida know that conversion is defined under Florida law asa positive, overt act of control or authority over money or property which is inconsistentwith the rights of the true owner
• In the probate and trust cases, we often try to determine who the “true” owner of the Flroida bank account was or is
• Why do I keep mentioning probate lawyers and conversion? Because when someone dies in Florida, their estate is often in lawsuits over the true owner of a Boca Raton bank account, which may have a beneficiary designation, is a Totten Trust, or may have someone else’s name on the title
• Conversion can occur when you withdraw money from a bank account
• Conversion can also occur even when your name is on the bank account
• A common example of this is when  your mom or dad create a joint account and put  your name on the bank account Florida.  They contribute all the money. Although you inherit the account when they die, if you take money out of the account during their life, that’s conversion, unless your parent approved your withdrawal
• You can read this opinion on prejudgment interest in Florida.
• Florida appeals courts review decisions on prejudgment interest de novo
• Who is entitled to prejudgment interest in a commercial lawsuit or a probate lawsuit?
• What’s interesting about this recent Florida appeal is that there was a contract between the parties to the lawsuit: not what we typically see in probate cases:
• https://edca.1dca.org/DCADocs/2015/0302/150302_1286_11202015_041801_i.pdf