Florida Estate Planning Legal Questions

You file a Will in the probate court after someone dies - you do not file before death unless the court has a system in place allowing you to 'deposit' your Will for safe keeping. You indicate your mother made changes to her Will and that gives the appearance she is alive. People update their Will for a variety of reasons. Until you die, you can change your Will as often as you like as long as it is within the statutory requirements (you are of 'sound mind', etc).... Read More

You would have the right to challenge the will in court, if you would stand to get something if the will was not upheld. You have a high burden of proof to challenge a will. You must show that your father executed the will while under duress, undue influence or that he was mentally incapable of understanding the extent of his property and know the likely people who would inherit his estate. The law generally will uphold a will that was properly executed. A will can be changed over and over up to the time of death as long as the will is executed properly and the testator (person who signed the will) was legally capable of executing a valid will.... Read More

You need to open a probate file in your county. Unless there was a will that says otherwise, you should petition to be the executrix (called personal representative). As execurtrix, you can force sale of the homes. If there is already an estate and you re not executrix, you can schedule a hearing with the judge and ask him to force a distribution. Estates are required to be closed in a year, so it should be wrapped up. Once you get your share of the houses, you can force a sale through a partition action, a court proceeding which requires a sale of property if one co-owner requests it.... Read More

Its your mother's decision, not yours. If she isn't competent to make that decision herself, and if she has a trust, the trustee can prevent persons from moving into property owned by the trust. If there is no trust and she is incompetent, you would have to resort to petitioning for guardianship.... Read More

Generally, speaking, there should be no need to re-title the real estate. Holding the real estate in trust avoids the need to open a probate estate to transfer the real estate upon the husband's death. Also, holding the property in trust is generally done to utilize the husband's estate tax exemption (and minimize and possibly eliminate any federal estate taxes that may be due on death). So, assuming the terms of the husband's trust meet the needs and goals of the wife, title does not have to change to the wife's trust. As the beneficiary of the husband's trust, the wife should have the benefit and use of the real estate. Once the husband has died, the wife may want to hold title in her name (or in through her trust). However, it is unclear from your question as to what type of trust holds the real estate and why the title was not equally divided between the husband and wife. So, you should have an estate planning lawyer review the terms of the husband's trust with you to make sure it meets your needs and estate planning goals. This answer is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship. Please consult a local estate planning lawyer to obtain legal advice that is tailored to your circumstances and facts. I am happy to discuss this with you in greater detail.... Read More