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Florida Guardianships & Court Appointed Attorneys

Uncategorized Dec 3, 2018

Who may be subject to a guardianship in Florida? What do I do if a family member files for guardianship of me? What happens if I am deemed incapacitated by a West Palm Beach guardianship court? When should I hire a Florida guardianship lawyer? What if I don’t like the court appointed attorney? As an alleged incapacitated person, can I hire my own lawyer? What is Florida Statute 744.331?

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Marriage and West Palm Beach Guardianship Litigation

Uncategorized Nov 8, 2018
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Are you worried that your incapacitated father will marry his twenty year old girlfriend, leaving you nothing to inherit? Does your friend of parent have a court appointed guardian? Are they a Ward? Does a Ward have a right to marry in Palm Beach or Delray Beach? How can the right to marry be taken away? You may want to read Smith v. Smith.

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Sanctions and Florida Guardianship Lawsuits

Uncategorized Oct 10, 2018
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An August 3, 2016 appeal out of the Fourth District Court of Appeal sheds some light on how to get sanctions against the other side for frivolous lawsuits. Have you heard of Florida Statute, section 57.105? This statute may be able to get you attorney’s fees in West Palm Beach probate. However, this case shows that it is not as easy as you may think.

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Florida Guardianship Litigation: Who Can Contract for Legal Counsel?

Uncategorized Oct 5, 2018
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Are you involved in a West Palm Beach guardianship? Are you facing a guardianship hearing in Orlando? Do you need an experienced Palm Beach litigation lawyer? Has your right to contract been taken away from you in a guardianship proceeding? If you are facing an incapacity proceeding, but have not yet been determined to be incompetent, can you hire your own Florida lawyer? You may want to read a recent First DCA opinion, Campbell v. Campbell.

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Guardianships in Florida

Uncategorized Sep 28, 2018
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What is a Florida guardianship? When is a guardianship necessary? Can a Palm Beach guardianship help to protect my mother who has dementia? Guardianships are not the only means of helping an incapacitated person in the State of Florida. In fact, Florida guardianship law actually requires the use of the least restrictive alternative to protect persons incapable of caring for themselves and managing their financial affairs whenever possible. What does this mean? What is an acceptable less restrictive alternative to a guardianship?

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Guardianships and Trusts – When are you an Interested Person?

Sep 21, 2018

What happens if you have a child and the child’s father is incapacitated or the subject of a guardianship and a trust is set up. Guardianship and Trusts, when you’re not an interesting person and can’t participate in legal matters regarding the trust. Hello my name is John Pankauski. I’m a trust litigation attorney. What happens if you have a child and the child’s father is incapacitated or the subject of a guardianship and a trust is set up. What if they file a motion that says you as the parent of your child are not an interested person in the trust. Do you have the ability on behalf of your minor child to still learn about that trust? Well a similar issue was decided by Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in March of 2018 in the Tenzer guardianship. It was decided March 21st 2018 and it deals with those issues. Under what circumstances are you an interested person in a trust that set up for somebody else in a Guardianship and what if you didn’t appeal the order that says you’re not interested in that trust, then you may be prohibited from ever being involved with that trust.

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Florida Guardianship Law – What Can You Learn From Other States

Sep 10, 2018

It’s important to keep abreast of how other states are handling guardianship cases. You know guardianship litigation and guardianship filings for adults are rising throughout the country. Here in Palm Beach County and throughout Florida, probate court judges now have an increasing number of cases dealing with guardianships of adults, not minor children. So what are other courts doing in the rest of the country. Well you can read about that by reading appellate opinions from other states and many times you can read them for free. If you want to learn about guardianship proceedings and what the nature of a guardianship proceeding is all about, consider reading a very recent case May 29th 2018 from an Ohio opinion. It’s the matter of guardianship of Rosenberger. You can read it at 2018 WL 244-0498. Many times guardianships are not supposed to be contested or adversarial or mean-spirited but sometimes family members fight to control mom, control dad and who’s going to control the money in a guardianship. All these answers and in your queries to other questions about guardianship can be answered by an experienced trial lawyer who also handles guardianship matters.

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Florida Guardianship Litigation: Elderly Abuse is Booming

Uncategorized Sep 6, 2018
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Is your family member stealing money from your mom who has Alzheimer’s disease? Are you worried that your elderly dad’s caretaker is taking advantage of him? Do your elderly grandparents suffer from dementia, making them incapable of keeping their money safe? Could a Palm Beach guardianship help to protect them?  taking advantage of your elderly parents? In Florida, are there laws to protect elderly people from financial exploitation? How can a guardianship lawyer help me? What do I do if I suspect that my elderly neighbors or loved ones are being financially exploited ? What is financial exploitation and how does it relate to Florida law? Any guardianship or trust lawyer will tell you that financial abuse of the elderly in Palm Beach, and throughout the United States, is a serious, and growing, concern.

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5 Questions to Ask Before Filing For an Adult Guardianship in Florida

Uncategorized Aug 27, 2018
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Increasingly, for good or for ill, guardianship litigation is exploding in West Palm Beach, Orlando and throughout the entire state of Florida. Families are going to the probate court and creating a guardianship for their mom or dad, or some loved one or neighbor, who is not able to care for themselves. What do you need to know about guardianships in Florida and what are 5 things you should really consider before filing for one?

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