What Palm Beach Probate Beneficiaries & Estate Executors Need to Know About the Statute of Limitations: September 30th, 2015 Palm Beach appeal

Are you the executor of a Palm Beach probate and have found out that  someone owed the estate a bunch ofmoney under a contract, but has not paid it?  Well, you may have to sue the person who broke the Florida contract and get the money for the estate. Do you know when the statute of limitations runs out for breach of contract lawsuitsin Florida? Well, how about this.  What if you are a probate beneficiary of an estate or mom or dad’s revocable trust which had abank account in Boca Raton that avoided probate.  You ask the trustee for information about the Boca Raton bank account of the trust and you find out that over a period of 7 years, the trustee improperly took out $50,000 each year in violation of the Florida living trust.  You want to sue the Florida trustee to get the money back to the trust. When does the Florida statute of limitations end for the trustee improperly taking the money?  You may want to read a recent, September 30, 2015 Palm Beach appeals court opinion on the Florida statute of limitations for breach of contract.  This is NOT a Palm Beach probate case, but it does address the running of a statute of limitations when there are multiple wrongs.  What does a Palm Beach executor of a will or a trust beneficiary need to know about the statute of limitations in Florida? Read on.

How Long Do I Have to Sue for Continuing Bad Acts?

• For probate or trust beneficiaries, there are often many short, VERY short statutes of limitations.
• For example, under the Florida probate code or the Florida trust code, there are short statutes of limitations for objecting to a will, or contesting a will and for suing a Florida trustee for breach of trust
• Under certain circumstances, beneficiaries of Palm Beach probates, and estates and also Florida trusts may only have 3-6 months to make a claim
• And if you the trustee of a Palm Beach Gardens trust or a the executor of a Miami estate or Delray Beach probate, you may have only a few years to sue someone for breach of contract
• Generally, the statute of limitations for breach of contract begins or starts when you know or should know about the breach and the last element of the cause of action has accrued or occurred

What Should Probate Beneficiaries Know About the Statute of Limitations?

• So, the law in Florida does not reward those who delay to bring a contract lawsuit
• The law in Florida does not reward an executor or a trustee for sitting on his or her rights
• The law in Florida rewards those who exercise their rights to sue
• So, what if there are a series of wrongs or bad acts by a trustee or an executor?
• What if there is a continuing set of bad acts by a Florida trustee, for example?
• Or, put another way, what if someone, like a power of attorney Boca Raton, wrongly took money out of a bank account over years?
• Is there a continuing tort or a continuing fraud which will let you get around the statute of limitations?
• You might read this case and have your probate litigator West Palm Beach consider your case and the statute of limitations which may or may not be present
• Remember: in the Florida trust or Palm Beach probate or estate context, you may only have days or months to take action compared to, say, a few years for other lawsuits under Florida law.

Here is a copy of the Palm Beach appeals court 4th DCA opinion: http://www.4dca.org/opinions/Sept.%202015/9-30-15/4D14-1883.op.pdf