Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida
Probate
I am trying to find out if I need legal representation in a probate
hearing I would assume. You see my parents are deceased and I inherited their home. I never knew after my mom passed away I needed to have her estate probated. She passed after my father. I was going through the process of refinancing and found out that I needed to have her estate probated. I thought that I just had to have there death certificates registered. I am very confused with all of this I looked up under Florida law for probate proceedings and there is a section that states ''what alternatives are available to formal administration?
It says that Summary Administration is generally available if the value of the estate subject in probate in florida (less property which is exempt from claims from creditors) is not more than 75,000 or the decedent has been dead for more than two years. My mother will have been dead for 4 and the only property is the home.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Probate
yes, you will need counsel.
Re: Probate
You are correct in your reasoning that a summary probate would be appropriate. Along with that filing would be a Determination Of Homestead. The Order on the latter would show to whom the property passed at your mother's death acting in effect as your "deed" to the property. If it passed to you under her will, or if she had no will but you are the only child, the process can be done very quickly (usually a matter of days, depending on which county is involved) and should cost no more than $750, including all filing fees, etc. There are a few other documents which would need to be prepared and recorded, but that should be covered by the fee mentioned above.