Search Results: guardianship

If you’re involved in a guardianship litigation you may or may not be able to get your attorney’s fees paid for by a court order.   Attorneys fees in Florida guardianship matters, understanding 744.108. Hello my name is John Pankauski. The lawyers and appellate attorneys at the Pankauski Hauser handle guardianship litigation contested matters throughout the State of Florida. If you’re involved in a guardianship litigation you may or may not be able to get your attorney’s fees paid for by a court order or from somebody else’s pocket and by the same token if somebody is trying to have their attorney’s fees paid for by the ward or somebody else you need to know what the Florida guardianship code, our Florida guardianship laws say about getting attorney fees in guardianship matters. You need to read chapter 744 and specifically statute 744.108 or you can read for free a brand new appellate opinion that talks all about this guardianship law and attorney’s fees. Read the Schlesinger case v Jacob. It was handed down February 21st 2018 by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal or talk to a serious Guardianship litigation attorney.

If your client is now incapacitated, remember that you cannot hand over your clients file to anyone except your client or the clients court appointed guardian. Guardianship and turning over files to the wrong person. Are you involved in a family guardianship where your client is now incapacitated and a family member like a spouse or a son calls you up and says “Hey, give me Dad’s file or give me Mom’s file”. Be careful, remember who your client is and remember that you can’t give your clients file to anyone except your client or somebody pursuant to a proper document or an order such as the persons court appointed guardian. Many times in guardianship situations estate planning lawyers improperly give away a clients file to family members who are not clients or who otherwise don’t have permission to get those documents.

Is that proper? Hello, my name is John Pankauski, I’m a guardianship litigation attorney with Pankauski Hauser in West Palm Beach. You know, many family members call us to interview our law firm when mum or dad maybe getting on in years and they need a little assistance, they may need a guardianship, their property needs to be protected and secured and they need someone to make decisions for them. If so, you should know that your mum and your dad your alleged incapacitated person or what the state calls the ward, is entitled to have an attorney. Well, can that attorney be substituted out for another law firm or another attorney. Or, what happens if mum or dad are ok, maybe even getting better after the guardianship is filed. Can they go out and hire a new attorney. Do they have the right to contract, can a new attorney come in and substitute in for them. Well, you can talk to an elder law attorney or a guardianship litigation law firm but you can also read a little bit more about this subject from Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal in the Campbell case. Campbell 219 southern 3rd 938. It’s a May 16th 2017 guardianship appellate court opinion issued by one of Florida’s Appellate Courts. This will give you perspective, this will give you insight regarding a ward’s right to have an attorney and under what circumstances a person who is involved with a guardianship proceeding should have an […]

The issue also comes up is if somebody who is the subject of a guardianship can get married. Hello, my name is John Pankauski, I’m a guardianship litigation attorney in Florida. We handle cases, trials and disputes throughout Florida involving Probates, Wills, Trusts, Estates and Guardianship. You know, 10 years ago if you had of asked me If was going to handle guardianship cases, my answer would have been very few. Now, it’s a very important component of our law firm practice is guardianship litigation, helping family members with contested involving mom or dad or maybe a close family member who can’t care for themselves and the court has to intervene and have a guardianship. Well, often times the issue of a divorce or an annulment will come up if dad or mum were married and they don’t want to be married anymore or their spouse doesn’t want to be. The issue also comes up is if somebody who is the subject of a guardianship can get married? Read the Smith case, Smith vs. Smith March 2nd 2016 from the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal, it’s a Palm Beach County case. The citation is 199 Southern 3rd 911 if you are involved in a guardianship you have a marriage issue, a divorce issue, or an annulment issue, read the Smith case or talk to a guardianship litigator not just a elder law lawyer or a probate lawyer but an actual trial lawyer who handles trials, disputes and appeals involving […]

Having a Guardianship petition dismissed at the Probate Court level reversed on appeal. Breaking Guardianship Law being made in Florida. Having a guardianship petition dismissed at the Probate Court level reversed on appeal. Hello, my name is John Pankauski, the lawyers at my law firm, Pankauski Hauser in downtown West Palm Beach handle guardianship matters virtually every day. That includes contested guardianship matters were you are helping a family member who wants to protect or file a guardianship for another family member. Many times that’s mom or dad, senior family members who need a little bit of help and guidance and protections as they age and as they lose their ability to analyses and understand things. Many times because of dementia, but not always. But sometimes guardianship involve brothers and sisters. A Nov 1st, 2017 Florida Appellate Court case deals with that issue. A brother filing a matter a guardianship matter for another brother who he claims requires protection and a court appointed guardian. Its from Florida’s third District Court of a Appeal which is the Appellate Court for the Miami Probate Court. The case is Sarfaty 2017 westlaw citation is 4938812. Why is this important? 1) it’s one of the longest written opinions on a guardianship case I’ve ever seen. 2) The guardianship petition in the Miami Probate Court was dismissed 3) The Appellate Court reversed that dismissal and sent this back down to the Miami Probate Court for proper proceedings 4) The court, the 3rd District Court of […]

You can file a Guardianship Appeal under certain circumstances How to file a Florida Guardianship Appeal. Hello, my name is John Pankauski, I’m an Estate and Trust Litigation Attorney with Pankauski Hauser in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. You know guardianship litigation for good or ill is exploding in Florida, family members, interested persons and even neighbors are going into Probate Court and filing for Guardianship or asking to be appointed to be the guardian of somebody that they know or maybe related to by blood or marriage. So, what happens if you have a guardianship matter that goes wrong and you think an error has occurred, can you file a guardianship appeal. Well, the short answer is yes under limited circumstances. You need to know the rules and I’m not talking about the Probate rules or chapter 744 which is the guardianship code. You do need to know those but also need to understand a rule of appellate procedure that a lot of people, quite frankly, don’t know about. It’s rule 9.170. Why do you need to know rule 9.170 of the Florida rules of Appellate Procedure? Because that deals specifically with Guardianship Appeals. My name is John Pankauski and this concludes my remarks about Florida Guardianship Appeals.

John Pankauski discusses they types of questions you should be asking. The five question that you should be asking when you are interviewing for a guardianship litigation lawyer. The questions you should ask include their experience and resume in handling these types of cases, do they specialize in this type and does their personality match what you are looking for.

5 Questions to ask Before you File for an Adult Guardianship Florida Probate Attorney John Pankauski discusses Guardianship Litigation in Florida and things you should know before you file: Understand if the person can actually manage their affairs If the person is in incapacitated, is there a less restrictive alternative? Is there a power of attorney who can help protect the ward Is there a living trust or irrevocable trust that can manage the ward’s properties A Florida Judge will always try and have the ward’s best interests in mind when making a decision on guardianship.

Webinar: A Florida Guardianship Litigation Guide A Florida Bar approved continuing education course.

What is e-filing? Does the Palm Beach probate court require claims to be e-filed? What should lawyers know about e-filing Florida claims? What if your civil litigator forgets to e-file by the deadline but manually submits the claim? You may want to read United Bank v. Estate of Edward Frazee.