Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

Often after someone dies in Florida, their families look to save money and open handle the probate without the use of a lawyer. In some states this is permitted, but in most cases Florida does not permit an individual to represent themselves in a Probate Proceeding. This is why probate forms are not available for Florida.

One reason individuals are not allowed to do their own probate deals with the complexity of the issues surrounding the Florida Constitutions protections of the homestead. If one does not take the right steps they could loose or jeopardize their homestead protection.

Florida Probate Rule 5.030 requries an attorney licenced in the state of Florida to be involved with probate proceedings, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person.

Sometimes it is necessary to admit a will in Florida when the original is not available because it was admitted in another state. The most common occurrence of this involves a Florida ancillary administrations. This is when the decedent lived in another state and there was an initial probate in that state, but the decedent owned real property in Florida.

In some cases, we find that the original probate was incorrect and the original administration should have been filed in Florida to protect the homestead from claims of creditors. In the case where a person who dies is a resident of Florida and their original will is admitted to probate in another state or country because of inadvertence, error, or omission. And the will is admitted in that other state prior to the Florida Probate case being filed, the certified copy of the will can be admitted to the Florida Probate case if the original could have been admitted. When this happens an authenticated copy of the will, foreign proof of the will, the foreign order or probate, and any letters issued shall be filed instead of the original will and shall be evidence of its execution and admission to foreign probate.

If you feel that a Florida homestead of assets of a Florida resident may be at risk because of an inadvertent error or mistake, Contact a Florida Probate Lawyer to discuss your situation.

In Jacksonville and around Florida an attorney is required under Florida Probate Rule 5.030 unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person. The attorney must be licensed to practice law in Florida. If you need a Jacksonville Probate lawyer or a Florida probate Attorney Contact us to see if we can help you.

Update:
Jacksonville Probate Lawyer, David Goldman has put together a Florida Probate Handbook that is being offered free to readers and visitors of his websites. If you would like a copy, visit the Free Florida Probate Handbook web page, fill out the form, and one will be sent to you within 24 hours by email.

Short Answer: A Summary Administration probate usually takes just over 3 months but can take 6 or more depending on the circumstances.

Long Answer: It depends on the facts and circumstances of each situation. In some areas of Florida the Judges require or allow for differing procedures this causes some probate administrations to take longer than others.

In Florida, the personal representative may need to sell real estate prior to settling the estate. As you can imagine the market conditions can determine how long it will take to sell property. I have been involved in some Jacksonville Probate Litigation where the creditors dispute every claim and as a result lawsuits are filed to resolve those claims. This procedure or settling a disputed claim in a Florida probate can extend the time to compete the probate.