More and more people are retiring in West Palm Beach from all over the country; even other countries are seeing retirees headed our way. Did you execute your will or other testamentary documents as part of your estate plan in another State? You may want to learn aboutholographic wills and other estate documents that the State of Florida’s probate courts will not honor. How much do you know about cross-state reciprocity when it comes to validity of probate documents?
Reciprocity Generally
- As a general rule the probate courts of West Palm Beach and South Florida want to be accommodating the reality of our mobile world.
- What does that mean?
- In general your estate plan will be respected by the probate court if it was valid where you executed it.
- This applies if you were just across the border in Georgia or coming from another country!
- That being said certain wills are not allowed in Florida and West Palm Beach.
- The big thing to remember is West Palm Beach will not honor your holographic will.
- What is a holographic will?
Holographic Wills
- Holographic wills are not admitted into probate in West Palm Beach.
- A holographic will is one that is handwritten and not witnessed.
- These wills are considered unreliable compared to other wills from foreign jurisdictions.
- Do you know why?
- If you have a will that was not witnessed it probably will not be admitted to probate in West Palm Beach.
West Palm Beach Estate Plans
- Even if you have executed an estate plan somewhere else it may be proper to amendonce you relocate to West Palm Beach.
- Surely some things have changed since you last executed an estate plan.
- For example was the plan implemented to limit taxes that do not apply in Florida?
- If you are unsure about whether or not your estate plan will be respected in West Palm Beach experienced probate litigators are there to lend a helping hand.
- If there is no reason to amend at least there is peace of mind that your foreign estate plan will be admitted to probate in West Palm Beach.
Unsure if your will is valid under the probate rules in West Palm Beach?
Check out the formalities that your will should have by looking at Florida Statute 732.502.