Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Re: Father's Estate and Will

As a son you can petition the FL court

for probate of the estate and compel her to file the will.

Re: Father's Estate and Will

Well,first, I am not a TN lawyer, so I can't address what rights you may have in TN. And, it is going to depend on whether he left a will, what state he was a resident of when he died (FL or TN?) and how the various property (both real property and financial instruments like bank accounts) are titled.

Now, having said that, and bearing in mind I am not licensed in TN, most states have a requirement that the person holding a will deposit it with the court within a certain time after the persons death; in Florida it is 10 days. A lot of times they don't do it; and it can be tough to get someone to turn the will in. In Florida, if I thought someone had a will and hadn't turned it in, I would bring a probate based on intestatcy; basically saying that I did not know if he had left a will, but that so and so might have one, but that they have failed to deposit it so far, and if there is no will then I am opening the estate 'intestate', meaning "without a will", serve copies of the paperwork on the person who I thought might be holding the will, and then it's time for them to put up or shut up; if they're holding the will they would have to turn it in if they wanted it probated; if they didn't turn it in then the probate would go ahead without the will. It would force them to produce the will. I've done this before.

Even if your father was a resident of TN, if he left real estate in Florida, then you are probably going to have to bring a Florida ancillary probate to transfer that property; depending on how it is titled. If he was a resident of Florida, then you can bring the primary probate directly here in Florida, but you may still have to bring an ancillary probate in TN to transfer that property.

Email me with details if you like.