Time to Draft New Rule for Probate Appellate Procedure?

Fourth District Court of Appeals Ruling Reminds Practitioners of Need for Rules Clarification

By Adrian P. Thomas

The appeal of a probate court decision can be tricky. The appellate process is full of land mines, and the probate court appellate procedure is no exception. One of the most common issues that needs to be immediately addressed by the practitioner is to determine whether the appeal is premature. This question can be very challenging in the probate context because the administration of an estate and/or trust is a series of events that can be viewed as both temporal and final at the same time.

What Probate Court Orders Can Be Appealed?

One of the first rules to learn is that appeals may not be taken from interlocutory orders entered in the probate process. The party who wishes to seek appellate review of an order by the probate court is required to await the entry of a final order or decree before seeking review of the allegedly erroneous interlocutory order. For example, an order setting aside and declaring letters of administration void ab initio is not an appealable order, nor is an order dismissing a petition in probate for construction of a will. Read the rest of this entry