Video Summary
Who are the parties that have to be involved going through the Florida probate process? Well, first you have the beneficiaries, whoever is named in the will. They need to be involved as far as the process is concerned, then you, if there’s no will involved, well, then you need to determine who the heirs are. Whether they have children, deceased children, grandchildren, and if they have none, then who the parents are to determine who the beneficiaries of the estate are. So those are all folks that need to be involved with the probate of a Florida probate. Then you also have the personal representative, whoever has been named as the executor. We now call them personal representatives. So they’re involved in the process and that they’re the administrator. They take care of paying for the creditors claims and distributing the assets, liquidating the properties in order to make distribution or distributing the assets in kind.
Then you have the creditors and that the creditors need to be paid before there is a distribution of the assets of the beneficiaries. You also have the judge who supervises the probate administration as far as requiring inventories and accountings and taking care of any contested matters between the beneficiaries or, if the personal representative is not doing their job, removing them. And then the clerk of the court who is short of the gatekeeper to the judge and then to submit the paperwork to the judge, they review it and then send it on to the judge to be signed. Usually you do not have to appear in court in a probate proceeding unless it is a will contest or there is litigation involved. So if you have any questions about probate or need an estate, probated will give me a call at (727) 847-2288.