Search Results: guardianship

Who’s got the burden and affidavits to support that burden? You know, in Florida you can try to avoid a trial if there’s no genuine issue of material fact. You can go in as a matter of law and ask the judge to rule right there. Who has the burden? While the moving party initially has the burden and they can meet that through the use of some affidavits. However, the non-moving party now has the burden that come forward with countervailing affidavits that has to demonstrate that there are genuine issues of material fact. Affidavits are really, really important in summary judgment, motions and hearings. Everybody who is involved in a trust contest or a guardianship or an estate contest knows that, because many times you have legal issues that can be decided without a trial. But, do you know how to use affidavits properly and do you know who has the burden at what particular time? And do the affidavits really create a genuine issue of a material fact or do they not? So, read more about Summary Judgment in a non-probate case, Keys Country Resort LLC versus 1733 Overseas Highway, LLC. Thats an April 10th, 2019 opinion from Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.

If you’re involved in a Florida lawsuit, particularly a trust lawsuit, an estate or a guardianship lawsuit or probate proceeding, attorneys fees are very very important; they’re what we call the “X factor” here. Why? Because you need very specific findings in a probate court to get attorneys fees and also the other side of that legal coin, if somebody is seeking attorneys fees from a trust, an estate or a guardianship, they have to prove their case in front of a judge and the judge has to make very specific findings of fact. So, it’s almost a little subspecialty of the law. To learn more about what’s required in an order to get attorney fees in a legal matter, you can read the Scire v. Hochman case. It’s an April 10th, 2019 case from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. It’s not a probate case, but it does talk about what does the judge have to put in an order on attorney fees when you’re involved in Florida litigation.

What does the attorneys’ fee provision say? You know, a lot of probate cases, indeed a lot of family cases come to some type of settlement. In the divorce setting or the family law setting, you often have marital settlement agreements or MSAs. In the probate, trust, guardianship setting you have settlement agreements. Many times they’re approved or approval is sought from a probate court, sometimes not. Now, in these settlement agreements, you typically have, it’s very common to have an attorney’s fee provision. There’s two aspects of an attorney’s fee provision in a settlement agreement that you need to understand and you can read the Laux case, it was decided on March 6th, 2019 by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. There’s two things you need to know: one is who is going to pay attorneys’ fees through the date of the settlement agreement? Many times the parties say, “The trust will pay it, the estate will pay everyone’s fees or each party bears their own fees.” The Laux case is a little different because it talked about a second issue, who is going to pay attorneys’ fees going forward, particularly, is there a prevailing party fee provision in your settlement agreement? If you have to come back to court, is there a provision in your settlement agreement for who pays whose attorneys’ fees.

What is Florida Statute 744.3215? Did you know that if you are deemed incapacitated in Florida, certain rights may be taken away from you? Can all of my rights be taken away from me? What rights will I still have if I am a Ward? How can my guardianship lawyer help me to understand my rights? Florida Statute 744.3215 is the relevant statute. It lists the rights that a person retains when determined incapacitated and the rights that may be removed.

How does dementia affect probate litigation? How does dementia affect a revocable trust?  Why is it so important to meet with your Florida estate planning attorney to draft a will or trust? How can a Florida estate plan help you to avoid a guardianship? How can a solid estate plan help you if you suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s? Why should I create an estate plan in Florida? What do probate litigators and guardianship lawyers need to know about dementia? How can dementia affect an estate?

What is an unjust enrichment action? When can a West Palm Beach probate lawyer bring an unjust enrichment claim? What should Florida trust attorneys know about unjust enrichment claims? Are these claims common in probate or guardianship lawsuits? To learn more about unjust enrichment claims, you may want to read a November 21, 2018 Fourth DCA opinion, Southern Specialties Inc. v. Farmhouse Tomatoes Inc.  

A probate court’s right to sanction beneficiaries, trustees, and executors. Are you involved in a Florida probate, an estate, or a trust, or guardianship matter, and you think somebody’s not playing by the rules? If parties to a lawsuit in Florida are exhibiting bad conduct, or frivolous claims, or defenses, or lawsuits, you’re not alone. In Florida, courts have the ability to sanction bad faith conduct by their inherent authority. Courts in Florida have the inherent authority to punish people who are behaving badly. A recent case from February 20, 2019 discusses that authority. That’s the Perlmutter case. That opinion was issued by the Palm Beach appellate court, the Fourth District Court of Appeal. If you want to read more about a court’s inherent authority to sanction bad faith conduct, go to the Fourth District Court of Appeal website, click on Opinions and scroll down. You can read the opinion for free.

What is a petition for discharge in a Florida probate, or a Florida estate? Hello, my name is John Pankauski. I’m a litigation attorney at Pankauski Hauser and West Palm Beach. All we handle is Florida probate litigation. Including litigation involving estates, trusts, and guardianships. What is a petition for discharge in a Florida probate, or a Florida estate? That’s a request by the personal representative or the executor to close the estate down. But be careful, it’s a lot more than that. You need to read the petition very carefully. You need to respond in writing within 20 days because that petition of a discharge is going to talk about accounting, asset, expenses, attorneys fees, costs, and a plan for distribution of the assets. Know what your rights are when you respond to the petition for discharge. And remember, if you don’t respond, the law is not going to help you if you remain silent. That’s going to be set for a trial, or some type of a hearing. Know how to exercise your rights if you object to the petition for discharge, and make sure you do it within the required timeframe.

How to find a Florida probate litigation law firm. If you’re involved in an inheritance dispute or a probate dispute, you may need a litigator. That’s a different skill set and a different practice area than probate administration, being an estate lawyer or writing wills and trusts. If you need a probate litigation firm in Florida, you want to find somebody who limits their practice to this particular area. Somebody who’s got 20 years plus experience. Somebody who is in a boutique firm where all they do is handle this particular limited area of the law, Florida probate litigation. Somebody who’s not handling criminal work, divorce work, or anything like that. They’re in civil court, they’re in probate court all the time handling lawsuits, disputes involving wills, trusts, estates, and guardianships.

Unfortunately, financial exploitation of the elderly has become a huge issue throughout Florida. Palm Beach guardianship lawyers and estate attorneys frequently receive calls from concerned relatives or friends regarding an elderly person being financially abused. What are the different ways that an elderly person may be financially exploited? How can you detect if your mom or dad is being financially exploited? What should you do if you believe that your elderly relative is being taken advantage of by a caretaker or “friend” ? When do you need an experienced Florida guardianship lawyer? Florida Couple Arrested for Financial Exploitation of the Elderly A recent article by Fox News describes just one way that an elderly person can be financially exploited. Here, a Florida couple allegedly stole over $50,000 from the bank account of an 82-year-old veteran. They stole most of the money by placing threatening calls to the man. They would tell him that, if he didn’t pay, he would have to go to jail. The police became aware of this scam because the poor elderly man called the Veterans Crisis Center after discovering that his bank account had been drained. He told the Crisis Center that his bank accounts were negative, and that he didn’t know what to do other than to end his own life. To read the entire article about this Florida exploitation of the elderly case, click here. Power of Attorney Mis-Use The above article discusses how an elderly person can be financially exploited by a scam […]