When An Ex Spouse Dies in Florida: Florida probate collides with Florida divorce law

Did your ex husband or ex wife die in Florida?   Do you, an ex wife or ex husband, have inheritance rights to your ex’s estate in Florida?  Palm Beach probate lawyers know that the worlds of divorce law and Florida estate law can overlap or even collide.  Just when you thought you did not have to deal with your ex husband or ex wife anymore, he or she dies and there is a probate in Broward County or in Delray Beach.  Florida estate lawyers know to first confirm if you were really divorced.  Did the judge issue an order or judgment dissolving the marriage?  If yes, you are divorced and don’t have any inheritance rights to your ex’s Florida estate……unless he or she was obligated to do something for you and didn’t.   Estate lawyers in Palm Beach County, Florida know to read any marital settlement agreement or property division order which the Florida judge may have approved or entered.   If there was a Florida divorce, there’s something out there that tells you who gets what.  If your ex owed you anything, (and didn’t pay it), was supposed to transfer something (and didn’t) or promised to do something (and did not live long enough to fulfill it), you have rights as a Florida probate creditor in your ex husband’s or ex wive’s estate.  Get a Florida probate lawyer.  There are many good Florida probate lawyers and Florida estate lawyers in Palm Beach County and Broward County who know the law of estates and wills.   You may need to file a statement of claim in the probate or estate proceeding to enforce your rights.  Depending on where the estate is “opened up”, it will be either Palm Beach Gardens,  West Palm Beach or Delray Beach, Florida for a Palm Beach County estate.  For a Broward County estate: Ft. Lauderdale.   You may also need to answer the “petition for administration” and monitor the estate.   As a creditor of your late husband’s or ex wife’s estate, you have rights but you have to enforce them.  Florida probate law does not reward those who sit on their rights.  And there are many, many technical issues and very short limitations periods for Florida estates and the Florida probate process that your Palm Beach County probate lawyer will tell you about.   Advocate hard. Litigate smart.