On September 10th of this month, the Third District Court of Appeal of Florida (3d DCA), in A.A. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 14107 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) held that a failure to hold an evidentiary hearing on a motion for modification of a permanency order and reunification with the appellant’s children denied her the due process to present evidence and testimony in support of her motion. Therefore the trial court caused material injury that could not be remedied on direct appeal and the case was immediately remanded for...
In a recent case heard by the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida (“4th DCA”), Kelley v. Kelley, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 14008 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), the Court held that a son’s collateral attack in Florida on his father’s Nevada divorce was barred by the Full Faith and Credit clause of the United States Constitution since both the father and his prior wife bound themselves to the divorce decree by participating in the Nevada proceeding and Nevada state law prohibited third-party attacks on divorce decrees binding upon the parties. The...
In Florida, one of the oldest forms of statutory trust protection is known as a Payable-on-Death deposit account, or “POD” account. A POD account allows for money remaining in a bank account when the account owner dies to pass directly to the beneficiary named by the account owner outside of probate. The money remaining in the account will then be paid to the beneficiary named by the account owner and will pass to such beneficiary even if the account owner had a will or a revocable living trust. These “trusts” are different from...
Typically, trusts are used to avoid the courtroom and thereby stay clear of probating through the court system because trusts can provide for the distribution of assets at death (as well as during a person’s lifetime). In doing so, avoiding the courtroom saves their beneficiaries time, money, and frustration. However, there are many instances where parties will challenge the actual trust, the actions of a trustee, or the validity of the trust itself and therefore lawsuits will commence.
Same-sex marriage has been a hot political topic in our nation’s cultural and social atmosphere for the past ten years. In the legal field, marriage can affect numerous aspects of a person in a relationship, including inheritance, tax benefits, housing, and most recently reviewed in Palm Beach, who can serve as personal representative of your estate. Florida law states that a person cannot appoint a non-resident to serve as personal representative unless that person is your “spouse” or otherwise related to you. See Fla. Stat....
Last week, in an appeal to the First District Court of Appeal of Florida (1st DCA), the Court agreed with the Department of Children and Families (Dept.) argument that the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) does not apply to the placement of children with out-of-state parents and reversed the lower court’s order. In Dep’t of Children & Families v. C.T., 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 12459 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014), the children were removed from their father’s custody based on allegations of drug use and parental neglect. After...
There are numerous reasons clients all over Florida leave their assets in trust for their children. The most common is to help preserve and protect the assets from a variety of creditors. While being a third party beneficiary to a trust, children can also be a trustee of the trust itself. Making a child the trustee of his or her own trust can give adult children the flexibility needed to use the trust assets when they require it the most. To accomplish this goal, attorneys who draft trust documents will often limit the discretion of...
Last Friday, the Fifth District Court of Appeal of Florida (5th DCA) affirmed a lower court’s ruling in Souder v. Malone, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 11760 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014) and held where a personal representative of an estate in probate has failed to serve a copy of the notice to creditors on a known or reasonably ascertainable creditor, such creditor’s remedy is to petition the probate court for an extension of time before the end of the two year limitation period. Although noting a conflict in their decision with the Fourth District...
In a case earlier this month, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida in R.J. v. State, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 10122 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) held that the State is not required to prove a juvenile’s age to vest subject matter jurisdiction over the case in thejuvenile division of the circuit court in Florida.
During a trial, the appellant was adjudicated delinquent in Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, meaning they violated a criminal law as a youth and therefore their sentencing...
Throughout the state of Florida, and even the entire country, couples know the engagement ring as a symbol of love shared between two individuals. It is a promise to marry; a promise that in many instances can be broken by either party involved. Engagement rings can be extremely expensive, and subsequently be one of the most valuable pieces of personal property in an individual’s estate. Therefore, who keeps the ring when the marriage ends, or if the engagement ceases is a big issue faced by many couples. Also, what...
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