Video Summary

How do I get my money from a probate estate released to me?

Well, first off you should be receiving a notice of administration in a probate proceeding that lets you know that you have an opportunity to challenge the will and that will come from the personal representative and the attorney handling the estate. Also, you should receive the inventory, and depending on how many claims there are, the claims period takes approximately four to six months, four months here in Florida, three months from the date of first publication. So you might want to give the administration about six months before you can start anticipating they’re going to start trying to wind up the estate. And also, whether or not they have to liquidate the assets in order to make distribution. In Florida you’re supposed to administer the estate within one year and then you would, if they do, you should receive the petition for distribution and discharge, which shows what the expenses are, the accounting and how much your share is.

Now, if you’re not hearing anything from anybody as far as the estate’s concerned, you may want to contact an attorney and have him contact the personal representative or the attorney, and find out what’s going on or when you can anticipate being paid. There is a procedure or statute that you can file to force the distribution of the assets. I don’t know that I’ve filed one of those, usually I go about that on trying to encourage the other lawyer to get the estate administered or get a reason for that.

So if you have any questions about your probate proceeding, a probate proceeding, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Can I sue someone for not showing up at a probate hearing? Well, no you cannot because a probate hearing is whenever the judge is going to be passing on something that usually is a contested matter. So if it’s contested and the other party doesn’t show up, that means you will probably win. And so you’ll win by default. Otherwise, most of the probate proceedings in Florida that are uncontested will basically not have to have a hearing or if it’s a hearing is uncontested. If you have the executor or now we call them personal representative is not doing what they need to do, well then you file a petition to have them removed. And then of course, that is a contested hearing. And if they don’t show up, well you’ll probably win. So you do not have a separate lawsuit over someone not showing up for a probate proceeding. If you have any questions about probate proceedings, 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.

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

If a contractor runs off with my money, well, it’s difficult to try and recover this. But if it’s a licensed contractor, you can submit a claim to the Construction Licensing Board. It’s under the Department of Professional Regulations, and they have a fund. I don’t know if that fund has any money in it. During the recession, it did not have any money, so the claims would have to be paid later on.

Before you’re able to make your claim, though, you need to sue your contractor and get a judgment against him in order to file your claim. Also, you’re not entitled to recover any attorney fees for filing your claim against a licensed contractor. The best thing to do is to make sure that the contractor is licensed so that you do have a recourse, and then if he runs off with your money, then you file a complaint with the building department in the Department of Professional Regulations and maybe pulled his license and complaint, and then sue him and get a judgment and make your claim with the Florida Department of Professional Regulations as far as whatever type of contractor he is.

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