Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Florida attorney only please

Sir,

I am in contact with a woman whos mother passed away in florida at the begening of 2016. I know there was a will and as i rember it named her and her sister as caregivers, but not her brother. Not sure if that was relating to any property because at the time our concern was about her health as she was in the hospital when i say it.

Any way, while the three were cleaning the house after her death they found a file with the bank accounts, insurance, ext. Now as i understand it they showed these papers to the name personal representative named in the will, but some how the brother now has those papers.

The only reason we know this is because i looked on the internet for notice to creditors and saw none so i looked for the will being filed and likewise nothing was filed with the court where the mother passed. This lead me to ask one of the sisters to contact the personal representative and see if it was the families responsibility to file the notice to creditors and the will. The personal representative said that it was the families responsibility to file any notice to creditors, and that the brother had all the papers.

Now presuming that the personal representative for some reason gave the will to the brother what should the sisters do?

the name of the lawyer that wrote the will is know and i believe that the personal representative has spoke with the lawyer who wrote the will.

I personally hand to pay to send one sister to Florida and rent the truck to move the furniture out of the home.

I did this in hopes that the family would get everything taken care of while they were all down there,

I am hopping my thinking on the brothers actions are wrong but im concerned for the sisters.

Easy solution?

Fees you foresee for something like this?


Asked on 3/23/16, 2:21 am

3 Answers from Attorneys
Barry Stein De Cardenas, Freixas, Stein & Zachary

If there are assets in the decedents name the estate needs to be probated. The personal rep is responsible for doing that. Fees are determined or guided by the value of her estate assets. Hire an attorney is the only option

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Answered on 3/23/16, 4:42 am
Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

If you know the attorney call and get a copy of the will. It can be submitted with the witnesses signing to its authenticity. Then you can probate,the estate. As to ins.policies, if the beneficiary is named they will pay to that person. Sometimes they do require something from the court. Have you Checked to see if a probate has been filed in a different county.

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Answered on 3/23/16, 5:25 am
Ronald Jones Ronald A. Jones, PA

First, ultimately, it is up to the personal representative to open the estate. If the personal representative won't open an estate then one of the beneficiaries can ask that an estate be opened. However, it is entirely possible that all of the significant assets passed outside of probate; in which case there is little point to opening it up. Second, if she died early this year, this is only March, and it can take a while to open an estate; sometimes there are good reasons for waiting; particularly where there are significant medical bills that are working their way through the system; it makes the probate a lot easier and cleaner if the medical bills have been paid by insurance or medicare; in some cases, it may make sense to simply keep the estate closed for a 2 year period if there are significant bills and non exempt assets. My point being, I wouldn't necessarily panic that the estate is not yet open. Third, if the personal representative or one of the sisters is really concerned then they should make an appointment with an attorney directly and talk about their options. It may make sense to open a probate; it might not; but I'd be really reluctant to force a probate without knowing exactly what is going on. They have options to force a probate but it would be a good idea to figure out whether they want or need to force a probate. But the beneficiaries need to talk to a lawyer themselves, and not act through some third party.

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Answered on 3/23/16, 6:50 am


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