Washington Probate Appeal: Son Sues Personal Representative for Lifetime Gifts of Silver to be Returned

Uncategorized • Dec 15, 2015

Did you know that you may not need an Estate lawyer in Florida to change certain parts of your last will and testament? Any experienced Florida trust lawyer can tell you that you have a right to dispose of personal property in an informal memorandum. Check out this recent case out of Washington to learn more about Florida probate litigation.

Informal Memorandum

For the most part you need a written will to dispose of a lot of your property.
There are a few exceptions that are well known to probate litigation attorneys.
For example non-probate property can pass without the assistance of the probate court.
Some common examples include life insurance policies and pay on death (transfer on death) accounts.
There is also a little known rule in Florida probate that you can ask your Florida probate lawyer about.
It allows for an informal memorandum to dispose of certain personal property.
That means your will does not need to be updated by a Florida estate lawyer every time you buy a new TV and want it left to someone.
There are limits to this rule though.
Probate attorneys Florida know that this is for personal property not real property or money.
It does not include intangible property either, like stocks and bonds.
Florida estate attorneys like this rule because it allows for flexibility.
You can amend your last will and testament (kind of- it is a separate writing after all) from the comfort of your own home!
Check out this recent probate appeal from Washington.

In re Estate of Lowe

This was a probate appeal from Washington State, one of the testators sons was appointed as personal representative.
He had also been left several silver bars and coins outside of the will.
Another son moved to remove the personal representative, to have the Court account for everything and to find that the gifts were invalid.
It should be noted here that yes it is possible for a probate lawyer to set aside a gift in probate court but you need evidence to do that.
Also there is no rule against a testator giving out gifts towards the end of their life.
Here the plaintiff did not get too far even on appeal he was shut down.
The plaintiff in a probate lawsuit has the burden to prove certain things and that just could not have been done in this case.
Do you think you have a valid probate lawsuit in West Palm Beach?
How do you plan on proving it?

Want to learn more?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.

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