More Extremely Interesting Florida Probate Court Details

1. What is Probate?

Probate is the method by which the possessions of a deceased individual are gathered, creditors paid, and the remainder of the estate dispersed to recipients. In the majority of Florida counties, the probate system is performed in a specialized probate department of the Circuit Court, under the oversight of one or more probate judges.

2. How is Probate Initiated?

Although any recipient or financial institution can initiate probate, generally the person called in the will as Individual Representative, also referred to as the executor in other states, starts the procedure by filing the original will with the court and submitting a Petition for Administration with the court of probate. Typically a close relative of the decedent who expects to inherit from the estate will submit the Petition for Administration if there is no will.

3. Who is Qualified to Function As Individual Agent?

A bank or trust company running in Florida, any person who is resident in Florida, and a spouse or close relative who is not always resident in Florida are all eligible to work as the Personal Representative. Nonrelatives who are not resident in Florida are not qualified to function as Individual Representative.

4. How is the Individual Agent Chosen?

If the decedent had a will, the individual named in the will as the Personal Agent will serve, if eligible. If that individual is unable or unwilling to function as Personal Representative, the person picked by a majority of the beneficiaries in interest of the estate shall select the Personal Representative. If there is no will, Florida law provides that the surviving partner might serve, or, if there is no spouse or the spouse is reluctant or unable to serve, the person chosen by a majority of the recipients in interest shall serve.

5. Is the Individual Representative Required to Keep an Attorney?

In Florida, the Personal Representative is needed in almost all probate estate to retain a Florida probate attorney. Although the Florida probate forms are readily available to the general public, these are of no use to a non attorney.

6. How is the Personal Agent Compensated?

Florida law provides a compensation schedule for the Personal Representative, based on a percentage of the properties of the probate estate.

7. Is the Family of a Deceased Person Entitled to a Portion of the Estate?

Florida law provides for a family allowance for the surviving spouse and minor kids of the deceased, in addition to an optional share for an enduring partner, thirty percent of the estate, if the surviving spouse would choose the optional share to that left under the terms of the will. A Florida homeowner is entitled to disinherit adult kids, for any or no factor. Naturally, if it can be revealed that the adult children were disinherited as a result of the impact of another, they may have recourse through the court of probate.

8. What Assets go through Probate?

Properties owned by the deceased person undergo probate. Possessions that go by ways of title, such as real estate entitled as "Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship," or checking account titled as "Transfer On Death" are exempt to the probate process. Properties that go by means of a recipient designation, such as life insurance or some retirement accounts, http://www.metalstorm.net/users/LawofficeofLucas/profile are also exempt to probate.

In some situations, however, properties that would otherwise pass by title or recipient designation can be based on the probate procedure, especially in the case of a making it through spouse choosing to take an elective share against the estate.

9. How is Distribution of the Estate Handled if there is no Will?

Florida law sets forth rules for the distribution of an estate if there is no will.

If these is a making it through partner and no lineal descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to the whole estate.

If there is an enduring partner with lineal descendants, and all lineal descendants are likewise descendants of the making it through spouse, the making it through partner is entitled to the very first $20,000 of the probate estate, plus one-half of the remainder of the probate estate. The descendants share in equal parts the rest of the estate.

If there is a surviving partner with lineal descendants, and not http://www.agreatertown.com/clearwater_fl/the_law_offices_of_lucas_magazine_0004063912 all lineal desdendants are also descendants of the enduring partner, the enduring spouse is entitled to one-half of the probate estate, and the descendants of the deceased share the other half of the estate in equivalent shares.

If there is no making it through spouse and there are descendants, each child is entitled to an equivalent share, with the kids of a departed kid sharing the share of their deceased parent.

If there is no enduring partner and no children or other descendants, Florida law offers additional guidelines for dispersing an estate in such situations.

10. Who is accountable for paying estate taxes?

Under the Internal Profits Code, the estate tax is gathered from the estate of the deceased. Depending on the terms of http://delray-beach-fl.addresses.com/yellow-pages/name:Product+Liability+Law+Attorneys/location:Inverness,FL/provider:106/22019364/details.html the will, the estate tax may be paid from the probate estate only, or also from a living trust, life insurance coverage proceeds, and other possessions passing straight to recipients outside the probate estate.