Video Summary

Can a vehicle title be transferred directly from the decedent’s name to a buyer? The answer to that is, is that if there is a probate proceeding, well, then the personal representative can sign the title and transfer it to the buyer, but you have to have an estate administration opened in order to have the title transferred from the decedent’s name into a buyer’s name.

If there’s no probate involved, a motor vehicle title can be transferred to his children or to his dependents, and then once it’s in their name, they can turn around and sell it, and you don’t have to go through probate to transfer the titles to a dependent or child. So that’s one way that you don’t have to go through probate, but you cannot take it directly to a buyer. It has to go into the children’s name first if you don’t have a probate proceeding.

If you have any questions about probate or transferring titles, my phone number is 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What recourse do I have if a family of a deceased person sold off items that were supposed to go to me?

Well, I assume that the decedent left a will and also left specific devise or a personal property list designating you to receive the items of personal property, and therefore you know that you were supposed to receive those. It’s very difficult to try and get those items, or to have a remedy unless there’s a probate proceeding involved. So if there’s no probate proceeding involved, you would have to probably establish a probate proceeding and then sue whoever it is who dissipated these items of personal property.

So it’s very, very problematic, and usually the amount of the value of the personal property, although it may have a lot of sentimental value, usually does not justify the cost involved in attorney fees, opening an estate and pursuing the matter. So if you have any questions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Are inherited items subject to capital gains? Whenever you inherit property, such as real estate, stocks, or bonds, you as the beneficiary receive the item at the market value as of the date of death, so that if the property that you inherited was worth $100,000 on the date of death, and then you sold it for $100,000, you would not have any capital gains. If, however, you inherited it and the date of death value was $100,000 and you waited several years and it appreciated and you sold it for $150,000, then you would pay capital gains between the difference of the date of death value and the sales proceeds, and those would be long-term capital gains.

So, if you have any questions about probate and what value you have to show on your tax return, give me a call at (727)847-2288.

Video Summary

What happens to an open lawsuit of a deceased person who is involved either as a plaintiff or a defendant? What you must do as far as a plaintiff is concerned, you need to give them, open a probate proceeding, have the personal representative then file what they call a notice of death, and then within I think it’s 30 days file a substitution of the personal representative as the party plaintiff as far as the lawsuit is concerned. If the estate is being or the decedent is being sued or potentially being sued, the personal representative needs to send a notice to the plaintiff that they have three months from the date of the notice to creditors to file a claim in the estate, and then a personal representative would then be substituted as the party defendant in lieu of the decedent.

So there is a procedure by which the personal representative can proceed with recovering the damages for the decedent, although there are some cases wherein your cause of action may pass away along with the death of the decedent. So if you have any questions about this, if you’d give me a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

How am I notified if I’m a beneficiary? If you’re a beneficiary under a will that is going to be admitted to probate, the probate rules provide that you will receive a notice of administration, and you will receive the will and that will set forth that you are a beneficiary under the will. If you’re a beneficiary under a trust after the person who set up the trust and you are a beneficiary then, the trustee is, under the Florida statutes, supposed to send to you a notification, and what I recommend is send you a copy of the trust. Therefore, you then know that you are the beneficiary, that you’re entitled to an accounting once a year which will set forth what assets are in the trust, and then unless you get a distribution, then you no longer any right to receive the trust information.

I’m often asked how can I get a copy of the trust because the trustee isn’t sending it to me, or won’t tell me if I’m in it, if I’m a beneficiary. And that is very problematic because if you don’t know whether you’re a beneficiary or not under a trust, it’s not administrated through the court system and the trust is not public information. So that is a problem when it comes to being a beneficiary under a trust, or knowing whether or not you’re a beneficiary under the trust.

If you have any questions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.