Search Results: guardianship

Second or third marriage? In Florida, particularly Palm Beach and Broward County Florida, second, third, and fourth marriages are very common. These so-called “late-life” marriages can be a blessing to seniors in their golden years on a personal level: companionship, company, love.

Are you involved in a probate or civil  lawsuit in Palm Beach County, Florida?  Broward County, Florida?  Or Miami Dade?   If you are, talk to your probate or estate lawyers about your trial schedule to make sure you are on track.  As many courts or judicial districts do, at the beginning of a new year, sometimes probate judges or civil judges in Palm Beach are rotated into another assignment or division. 

What is an inheritance lawsuit? If someone you know has passed away, or just died, like a mom or a dad, maybe an aunt who retired to Florida, that person had a Florida estate. That Florida citizen had property which passes or “goes to” his or her chosen beneficiaries. Sometimes that money or property is inherited quickly and easily. One example is a Florida joint bank account, or a life insurance policy on the life of the dead Florida resident. You get a death certificate to the bank or the insurance company, and proof of who you are, present your ID, and the money is yours, right?

Do you know what an offer of judgment does? These may be able to  get you attorney’s fees in West Palm Beachprobate lawsuits if you know how to use them properly. Failure to follow the specific guidelines could be disastrous though. Check out this recent case that went all the way up to the Florida Supreme Court because one party could not follow specific rules related to Florida’s Offer of Judgment Statute. 

Your Kids Hate Your Second Spouse.
Your Kids Will Sue Your Second Spouse When You Die.

Why are there three probate courthouses in Palm Beach County, Florida?   If you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate or a Florida trust, or are involved in a probate administration or estate administration in Palm Beach, you might be confused.  It may be more correct to state that there are three courthouses in Palm Beach County, and within those courthouses, there are probate divisions or probate judges who hear cases on Florida wills, trusts, estates and guardianships.  

Florida probate lawyers, indeed those Florida lawyers who handle litigation of wills, trusts, estates and inheritances often find themselves in the civil division of our Florida judicial districts in Miami Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida.  The probate division of our Florida courts typically handle administration and litigation of Florida estates and trusts. 

In Florida, trust attorneys, estate administration attorneys, and attorneys who are involved with wills, trusts and estates know that a fiduciary owes a duty of loyalty to those they serve.   A  Florida trustee, a Florida personal representative, even one who is the attorney-in-fact, or “power of attorney” under a Florida power of attorney document, owes a duty of loyalty to those they serve.  For  Florida trustees, the duty is owed to beneficiaries. 

What do you do if a Florida guardian is acting improperly?   Florida places strict duties and great obligations upon a fiduciary such as a Florida trustee, a Florida personal representative or executor…..including Florida guardians.  If a Florida guardian is acting improperly, he or she may be fined by court.  Put another way, a court has an inherent right to sanction bad conduct, or to assess money damages against a Florida guardian or a Florida trustee or Florida personal representative. 

Florida probate litigators deal with contested or disputed issues of wills, trusts, estates, inheritances and guardianships every day.  Many times there are family members or those who are related to the decedent, client or person by marriage who don’t get along.  Frustration is high.  Blood runs hot.  Money is at stake.  While Florida attorneys, indeed trust and estate clients, should be good advocates, one must always be mindful what everyone’s role in probate litigation and trust trials is:  to find out the truth and then apply the law to that truth, those facts.