Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Re: Guardianship of minor

Go to a lawyer. Since there was no will, a judge gets to decide who the new "parents" will be. Also, don't spend any of the 16-year-old's money, or the judge gets to decide how much time you do.

Re: Guardianship of minor

I am sorry to hear of your situation. I have handled these matters and they can be very frustrating for the people going through them. There are several things that need to be done here.

First, you MUST hire an attorney. You need to open a Probate for the mother's estate so that the money deposited into her accounts can be accessed for the 16 year old's benefit. The court should appoint an Administrator of the estate to oversee this process, and at some point should appoint a guardian ad litem for the child.

You should also petition for Emergency Temporary Guardianship over the 16 year old, then follow up with a Permanent Guardianship. The reason for the temporary is that it works much faster and allows you to act on behalf of the 16 year old to certain degree.

Even though you have to have an attorney for this process, provided there are no complications or contests it should not be outrageously expensive, depending upon the size of the estate.

Additionally, once the estate is probated and access is granted to the 16 year old's money then you can use those assets to pay for the legal expenses needed to effectuate the guardianship. The court will require an accounting be done, but so long as you can prove the money was spent for the benefit of the child you should have nothing to worry about.

My office handles these matters regularly, and we know attorneys all over the state who also perform this work. If you need a referral to an attorney in the Orlando area please feel free to call me or email. Good luck.