Florida Probate Blog

A Florida will execution must follow certain formalities as set forth in the Florida Probate Code.   Bitetzakis v. Bitetzakis, — So.3d —-, 2019 WL 405568, 44 Fla. L. Weekly D343. George Bitetzakis died in January 2017.  His grandson was appointed personal representative and petitioned to admit George’s September 2013 Last Will & Testament to probate.  George’s daughter, Alice, objected to the Will alleging it had not been executed in compliance with the statutory formalities set forth in Florida Statute §732.502.  Specifically, Alice alleged that George had not signed the Will within the meaning of the statute. The trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing, during which the following was established through testimony: George, his wife, his friend and his pastor met each week in George’s kitchen for breakfast.  (Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but the punchline in this case is nothing to laugh at.)  On September 26, 2013, George […]

“But Mom only added my brother so he could pay estate expenses and then the money was supposed to be divided equally amongst all of the children like the Last Will & Testament says!” Almost every day, a prospective client calls to say that a sibling was added to Mom’s bank account, either as a joint tenant or as the pay-on-death beneficiary, solely for “convenience” purposes so he or she could pay estate expenses and that it was Mom’s intention that the remaining funds be distributed equally to all of her children.  Naturally, the sibling who was added to the account does not share this view (which is the reason for the phone call).  Invariably, the sibling who was added is the one who lives closest to Mom so it is simple for him to rationalize and justify keeping all of the money – even when that is not what Mom wanted –  because “I was the one helping out.”  In this way, […]

once the expenses became a charge against the Estate pursuant to section 768.21(6)(b) of the Wrongful Death Act, the personal representative had the exclusive authority to resolve those claims in a reasonable and equitable manner and in accordance with section 733.707 of the probate code.”

FLORIDA PROBATE AND PATERNITY Wait! Don’t Throw that Away! Do A Decedent’s Next Of Kin Have A Protected Right In The Decedent’s Blood Samples, Tissue, Organs And Other Body Parts That Have Been Removed And Retained By A Coroner For Forensic Examination And Testing? I recently encountered a dispute in the context of a paternity proceeding in a probate estate as to who has the rights to a decedent’s blood samples that were drawn during an autopsy. The answer was critical to the establishment of my client as the decedent’s biological child and important in assessing all the parties’ ultimate rights to the Decedent’s Homestead Property. The Florida Supreme Court has never directly dealt with the issue, which implicates not just the parties involved in the dispute (in my case, the Decedent’s sister, was the Personal Representative and my client was the biological son attempting to establish paternity) but also […]