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.