Where’s the Money?: assets and inventories in Florida estates
Where’s all of mom’s money ? I thought dad died with a lot more. Florida probate lawyers from West Palm Beach to Coral Springs here these comments all the time they are involved with a Palm Beach estate or a Broward County probate. Many times heirs, beneficiaries and children wonder where their parents’ assets, bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and cash went to. If you are a beneficiary of a Palm Beach estate or a Broward County estate, talk to your Florida probate lawyer about your rights as an Florida estate beneficiary and your rights to information in a Florida probate. Florida inheritance rights and Florida rights of beneficiaries are an important part of Florida law. There are many very good Florida probate attorneys throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County that can assist you. Here are Florida probate tips for you, whether the estate is in Palm Beach Gardens, or Ft. Lauderdale. An interested person in the Florida estate may receive a copy of the “inventory” and also a complete estate accounting. Inventories are confidential, so if you are not entitled to receive a copy, you can’t just walk down to the courthouse in West Palm Beach or Ft. Lauderdale and get a copy. The Florida executor, also called a personal representative, may give a copy of the inventory to you and must give a copy toyou if you are an interested person. Brokerage account in Delray Beach? It should be on the inventory. Real estate or a condo in Ft. Lauderdale? Look for it. What about the mansion in Parkland or the life insurance policy purchased from an insurance agent in Boca Raton? Those you might not see on the inventory for reasons your estate lawyer can explain. Your Florida probate lawyer can explain what information you have a right to. The good news is that if you are an estate beneficiary, you are absolutely entitled to relevant information. Now, just because you may be an “heir” like a son or a daugther, that does not mean you get to learn about the Florida estate assets of the dead person. After all, you might have been “cut out” or dis-inherited. Formal or informal acountings are also required unless they are waived by the probate court or all beneficiaries. So, talk to your probate lawyer about what you are entitled to and how to get it if you don’t have it, or if the Florida executor won’t disclose. Financial discovery, that is, learning what mom or dad own, what they owned, what they did with all their money, or who took that money, and what assets are part of the Florida estate, are important issues. Inventories, accountings and a good Florida probate lawyer in Palm Beach or Broward County may hold the answers to the questions that you have.