Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

I am interested in compelling the executor of a will to file the will in Port Charlotte County in the State of Florida. The deceased person is my father. He passed away on 1/9/2009. To date the will has never been filed. I have a copy of the will and there is property left in a life estate left to me and my two sisters upon the demise of my stepmother. As it stands right now (will unfilied) isn't it true that she can just ignore the wishes named in the will and grant that property to anyone else, just because they were married? (She was never on the property deed, just defaulted the property as his wife) Can I, as an interested party who is named in the will fly down to Florida and have it filed? I can be reached @845-942-8141 or 845-323-2846 if it is easier to call than it is to email.

Sincerely,

Danielle Maltbie


Asked on 8/06/10, 12:09 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

You may file the copy of will and open the estate file - you will need to hire an attorney.

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Answered on 8/11/10, 12:27 pm
Richard Kaplan

You can also file Petition to Produce Will and serve it on the person you believe has the original. Of course if they don't, then it will be for naught.

I assume the Executor is named in the Will but has not been appointed by the court yet. If they have, then there is a bigger problem and the time to deal with it is running out. You need to run, not walk to an attorney, to handle it.

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Answered on 8/11/10, 3:20 pm


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