Notice of Administration in Florida Probate
The Notice of Administration is a formal document that notifies all interested parties of the death of the decedent, the filing of the last will and testament for probate, and that an objection to the validly of the will and the probate proceedings must be filed within a certain period of time or be forever barred.
The recipient of a Notice of Administration may have a variety of legal bases (e.g., Lack of Mental Capacity, Undue Influence, Duress, Intentional Interference with an Expectancy, and/or Improper Signing of the Will) to try to stop the administration of the estate or the challenge the validity of the Will. If you receive a Notice of Administration informing you that you have a limited time-frame, the Notice provisions will override any deals, promises, or assurances that if you don’t contest the will you will get your fair share. So be wary of any promises made that things will be “evened out” in the estate or someone will “take care of it” – those verbal agreements are unenforceable. In other words, once you are served with a Notice of Administration and the time period (usually 20 days) passes, any promises, representations, or guarantees to settle any estate dispute or disagreement are worthless and unenforceable.