Third District Applies General Agency Principals to Issue of Who is Real Party in Interest

A quick glance at any court docket these days will reveal that many foreclosure actions are being prosecuted by someone other than the real party in interest. While it is generally acceptable for an authorized agent to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a principal in a civil action, how and to what extent is this rule recognized in the probate arena?

Generally, in actions by or against a probate estate, the personal representative of the estate is a necessary and indispensable party. There is a lot of decisional case law in Florida holding that in cases involving claims made by or against an estate, the estate and its survivors are the real parties in interest, and the personal representative is merely a nominal party. Read the rest of this entry

Court holds trust instrument was effective in transferring both real and personal property to the trust.Prior to Florida’s adoption of the new Trust Code, which became effective on July 1, 2007, the common law held that in order for a trust to be created, the settlor was required to make a present and unequivocal disposition of property so that he or she is no longer vested with its full legal and equitable ownership. For example, it has been held in Florida that the failure of a settlor to execute a deed which conveyed real estate to the trustees of a trust precluded the creation of a “living trust” for the realty. Flinn v. Van Devere, 502 so.2d 454 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Although the new Trust Code is now effective, it provides that the common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement the Code, except to the extent modified by the Code or another law of Florida. Fla. Stat. §736.0106. This leaves a lot of “gray” area in the law of trusts, and whether certain attempts to transfer property into a trust are valid.

I’m always interested in how our sister jurisdictions handle problems in connection with attempts to transfer real and personal property into a trust that might fall short of the formalities required by the Uniform Trust Code. One such case recently surfaced in our Midwestern sister state of Nebraska in Chebatoris v. Moyer 757 N.W. 2d 212 (Neb. 2008). Read the rest of this entry