Video Summary

Should I add an asset to a probate case that is in a summary administration in Florida? Well, a summary administration is filed whenever there is no bills outstanding and that the assets of the decedent that are titled in his name, other than his homestead, are less than $75,000, or the decedent’s been deceased for two years. Once petition can order summary administration has been entered, well, that is all there is to the proceedings. So, depending on when you discover this asset that was not included in the petition, is when you can add it. If the order of summary administration has not been entered, well then you can file an amended petition to include this asset and have the order of summary administration included.

However, if you’ve done a summary administration and you later discover an asset then you have to file a petition to reopen the estate as far as the disposition of this other asset and whether or not you have to go through a formal administration or an amended summary administration is depending on the value of the assets.

So if you have any questions about summary administrations and probate, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What is summary administration? Summary administration is a form of probate proceeding. It’s a decedent or an estate is eligible for a summary administration if the assets of the decedent are less than $75,000 and that there are no outstanding creditors of the decedent. This excludes the homestead property. You can file to have the will admitted into probate or if there’s no will to have a end test state proceeding file to have the heirs determined.

Whenever they sign the petition for summary administration they’re stating that they’ll personally be responsible for the debts of the decedent if there are any because they’re stating that there are none. You can present it to the court and the court will, depending on what county you’re in, but may enter it within about 30 to 45 days after you filed the petition and you get the court order and then have the asset distributed to the heirs. If there’s homestead property you can file a petition for homestead.

The other time that a summary administration be filed is if the decedent has been deceased for more than two years, then it doesn’t matter the total amount. The assets and the statutory period for creditors has filed and they’re barred so you can file a summary administration after a decedent’s been deceased for two years.

If you have any questions about probate or a summary administration give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What happens if a person dies with a will and both the executors are deceased? In that instance, the beneficiaries, the majority of the beneficiaries need to agree on who should be the personal representative. If that is not possible, then any one of the beneficiaries or any person that’s qualified to be a personal representative can file a petition to be appointed the personal representative and give notice to all the other interested parties. And if no one objects after they give formal notice which I believe is about 20 days, well then the court would then appoint whoever has petitioned for it.

If there is objection, well the court would then have a hearing to determine who would be appointed as the personal representative. So that’s how you resolve it whenever both the designated personal representatives are deceased. If we have an estate where the personal representatives do not act, whether they’re deceased or just not interested or don’t want to pay the attorney or anyone else, you can petition the court to have a curator appointed until such time as a personal representative is appointed.

The curator’s job is to maintain the estate and status quo by publishing the notice to creditors and administering the estate until a personal representative or may complete the administration of the estate whenever a personal representative has not been petitioned to be appointed.

If you have a problem with probating an estate and you’ve got deceased personal representatives or executors, well give me a call and we’ll be glad to help you out. Call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

What happens when someone dies and there is no probate administration? Well the Florida statues provide that if someone passes away that whoever has the will is supposed to deposit with the court. That does not mean that you have to have a probate proceeding.

Many times wills are not probated. The reason why is because the decedent does not own any assets that are in their own individual name. Many times, particularly in the husband and wife scenario the property is held in their joint name so all that’s needed is to record a death certificate in the public records which would show that the surviving spouse is receiving the, is entitled to the particular joint asset.

Or if they’re bank accounts that are joint or payable on death, then the bank simply distributes those or pays those amount to the joint owner of the account.

If there are assets in the decedent’s name, well then nothing happens and the assets will eventually be turned over to the state and then as abandoned property such as bank accounts, old life insurance policies and I’m not sure how many years have to go by before they are turned over to the state and they can always be retrieved by setting up an estate.

The other scenario is is if you have credit cards in the name of the decedent and then the question is, is well what happens as far as paying these bills if there’s not probate administration for the creditors to file their claims? If there’s no probate administration and the decedent owned debts well they just, the creditors have the option of opening an estate, of course they need to try and figure out if there are any assets that could be used to pay their debts. So a creditor can open up an estate if they so choose, if they’re owed any money however if no probate administration open and there are creditors, the creditors do not get paid since there’s no probate and no assets pay them.

Also the creditors’ claims are barred two years after the decedent’s death. Sometime probate administration doesn’t even take place until after the two years and the creditors’ claims are barred.

If you have a question about probate and what to do when someone passes away, well give me a call 727 847-2288.

Video Summary

What happens if I own probate property but don’t have a will? Well first, as far as owning probate property, that means that, that’s property that is owned in your individual name and does not have a designated beneficiary or is not held jointly with anyone else. So, first we have to define what is probated property.

The next question that you have is, if I die without a will and you own property in your individual name, then you die what they call “in testate.” And the Florida statutes have set forth a will, in their statutes they say who will receives your assets. And it goes something like, if you’re married, your spouse they receive all or a half, depending on whether or not you have any children from another marriage. If you are not survived by a spouse then it will go to your children. If you die without any children and without a spouse well then, what we call, it ascends instead of descends and goes to your parents. And if they’re deceased well then it goes back down the family tree to your brothers and sisters or your siblings and their children.

So first off is, probated property is property, which you own in your individual name at the time of your death. And the Florida statutes had set forth who the beneficiaries are, so it must go through probate. The myth that the state will take the property is simply that, the state will not take your property unless you die with no heirs whatsoever, which is very, very remote. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that happen. So if you got any call, if you have any questions about that, would like to have a will drawn up or do some estate planning, give me a call at 727-847-2288.