Notables

You just turned 18, and you are headed off to college hundreds of miles away from your parents. You are excited for classes to begin, and the worst thing imaginable happens. You are in an accident, in the hospital, unconscious. Your parents get a phone call from a roommate or friend to tell them. 

A notice to creditors is a newspaper publication. It is a public announcement in the county where the decedent died.  This announcement is done by the appointed personal representative (through their lawyer), which is done to alert or give notice to a decedent’s potential creditors about the death and that there is a probate proceeding which is presently being administered. …

A ward’s guardian, an estate’s personal representative, and trustees of trusts are all considered fiduciaries within the guardianship, probate, and trust administration processes.  Fiduciaries are held to a high ethical and legal standard. They are charged with the obligation to manage the property of the ward, or the estate, or the trust, for the best interest of the beneficiary of such property.  …

Boyes, Farina & Matwiczyk, P.A. today announced partners William (“Bill”) E. Boyes, John Farina, and Peter Matwiczyk have been named to the 2021 Florida Super Lawyers™. For the 16th consecutive year, the recognition is in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate for Mr. Boyes. Mr. Farina and Mr.

One often wonders what happens with our social media accounts and digital information, such as photos, after death.  Photographs used to be kept in physical photo albums, but now they are kept on our phones, posted on social media, and/or stored in “the cloud.”  Our social media accounts are used to keep track of milestones, big events, and even the day-to-day of our ordinary lives, by way of photos and videos….

The trial court cannot refuse to appoint the nominated personal representative of an estate based on an alleged conflict where the record contains no competent substantial evidence from which the court can conclude that there is a conflict of interest.  See Werner v. Estate of McCloskey, 943 So.

If you have sought the determination of capacity and the appointment of a guardian with respect to a loved one by filing the appropriate petitions with the guardianship court, and these petitions are contested, you should be cognizant of this trap with respect to the examining committee reports. 

When a petition to determine incapacity is filed, the guardianship court will appoint an attorney for the alleged incapacitated person, appoint 3-person examining committee to meet with and evaluate the alleged incapacitated person, and schedule a hearing on the petition to determine incapacity….

Among others, Florida’s Probate Code includes two particular safeguards to protect a Decedent’s surviving spouse and children – the exempt property and the family allowance. These two things are intended to provide immediate relief to the surviving spouse and children during the estate administration period, without having to wait for the three-month long creditor claims period to expire….

Various recent news headlines – such as the Los Angeles Times, and other press – have given Larry King’s estate some attention.  Larry, together with his wife, Shawn Southwick King, had executed estate planning documents in 2015, where he named her the personal representative of his estate. However, Larry filed for divorce in August 2019….

A trend in court proceedings, and particularly in probate litigation matters, is the use of copies of text messages and emails between individuals in court proceedings.  From an evidentiary standpoint, and for the use of said text messages and emails in court proceedings, an important question becomes the authenticity of the text messages and emails….