Probate, Trust & Guardianship Litigation Blog

By: Glenn M. Mednick, Esquire

 

4th DCA Upholds Payment of Interest of Court-Determined Minimum Value of Surviving Spouse’s Elective Share and Finds Court Reversibly Erred By Deducting Attorneys’ Fees From the Value of Elective Share

In Blackburn v. Boulis, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 716 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016), the Fourth DCA held that the probate court properly ordered personal representatives to pay interest on a percentage of the court-determined minimum value of the surviving spouse's elective share from the date of the initial valuation. The Court reasoned that it would have been inequitable for the spouse to have been denied the opportunity for a reasonable return on her minimum elective share. The subject case involves two appeals regarding payment of a surviving spouse's elective share.

 

4th DCA Upholds Dismissal on Collateral Estoppel Grounds; Litigants Should Not Hold Back Pleading Potentially Interrelated Claims

In Kowallek v. Rehm, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 433 (Fla. 4th DCA), Daniel Kowallek ("Appellant") appealed an order dismissing his case with prejudice with regard to Florida Power and Light Company and Asplundh Tree Expert Company ("Defendants"), asserting that the trial court erred in granting the motion filed by Defendants on the bases of res judicata and collateral estoppel. Although the Fourth DCA agreed that the action should not have been dismissed pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata, the Court affirmed the decision of the trial court on the basis...

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2nd DCA Upholds West Coast Factors for Calculation of Trustee’s Fees, as Contrasted with the Lodestar Method Set Forth in Rowe

In Robert Rauschenberg Foundation v. Grutman, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 181 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016), the Second DCA found that the trial court properly used the West Coast factors rather than the lodestar method to calculate the trustees' fees because the legislative history of Section 736.0708(1), Fla. Stat. indicated an intent to apply the West Coast factors, and there was no indication of legislative intent to apply the lodestar method.  In the subject case, the administration of the considerable estate of famous artist and philanthropist, Robert Rauschenberg...

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POD Designation Properly Invalidated Where Personal Representative Failed to Prove that POD Designation was not Obtained by Undue Influence

In Keul v. Hodges Blvd. Presbyterian Church, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 17713 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), the First DCA found that the trial court properly invalidated, under Section 733.107, Fla. Stat., a payable-on-death (POD) designation because the personal representative failed to prove that the POD designation was not obtained by undue influence. In the subject case, Mrs. Lampp and her late husband executed a family trust and pour-over wills several months before Mr. Lampp died. The trust provided that, if Mr. Lampp died first, then upon Mrs. Lampp's death,...

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Trust Beneficiary’s Failure to Repay Trust Distributions did not Prevent from Challenging the Validity of the Trust where he was Entitled to more than Distributed Amount

In Gossett v. Gossett, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 18803 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) the Fourth DCA held that a beneficiary's failure to repay distributions made to him from trust proceeds did not prevent him from challenging the Fourth and Fifth Amended Trusts. In the subject case, the settlor's son (“Appellant”), and a beneficiary under all versions of the Trust, appealed an order dismissing five of six counts of his second amended complaint which sought to invalidate the Fourth and Fifth Amended Trusts, and enforce the Third Amended Trust. He argued that his failure...

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Florida Supreme Court Holds Broad Language of Waiver in Prenuptial Agreement Before it was Sufficient to Waive Spouse’s Claim to Assets Acquired or Enhancement In Value During The Marriage

The Florida Supreme Court held in Hahamovitch v. Hahamovitch, 174 So. 3d 983 (Fla. 2015), that the Fourth DCA correctly ruled that the prenuptial agreement language at issue was broad enough to waive a wife’s right to assets titled in the husband’s name which had been acquired during marriage or which appreciated in value due to marital income or efforts during marriage. In the subject case, Dianne and Harry Hahamovitch entered into a prenuptial agreement in 1986, before their marriage. At the time they entered into the agreement, Harry was forty-six...

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The Appointment of a Curator Without The Revocation or Temporary Suspension of Letters Issued to the Personal Representatives Was Error

In Gordin v. Estate of Maisel, 2015 WL 7566353 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015), the Fourth DCA held that it was improper for the probate court to appoint a curator without revoking or suspending letters of administration. In the subject case, Shelley Wilensky ("Decedent") died leaving a will appointing her grandson, Gordin, as personal representative of his estate. After Decedent's death, Gordin filed a petition for administration as the person chosen to serve as personal representative by Decedent. The probate court entered an order admitting Decedent's will to probate,...

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Subsequent Administration of an Estate was Warranted Under Florida Probate Rule 5.460 to Determine a Son’s Interest in Mother’s Homestead After it was Sold

In Mathis v. Estate of Mathis, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 16601 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015), Charlyn Mathis (“Decedent”) died with a will which provided that her homestead property should go to her daughter, Kathleen (“Appellee”) and upon the daughter’s death, to her son, Johnnie (“Appellant”). However, the will also provided that if the property was sold, the proceeds from the sale would go to all of her children and grandchildren, in predetermined percentages. After Decedent passed, Appellant continued to live at the subject property. Both Appellee and...

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Failure to Apply the Doctrine of Dependent Relative Revocation would have Resulted in the Residue of a 12 Million Dollar Estate Passing by Intestacy rather than a Residuary Beneficiary under a Prior Will

In Rocke v. American Research Bureau (In re Estate of Murphy), 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 16740 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015), the Second DCA held that the probate court erred in concluding that a large majority of an estate of a decedent passed through intestacy pursuant to Section 732.103, Fla. Stat. because it failed to apply the presumption of dependent relative revocation to the decedent's last will. The Second DCA noted that the doctrine was to be given a broad interpretation of similarity and that extrinsic evidence should be considered in cases involving undue...

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Homestead Limitations on Devise, and How QPRTs and Waivers May Alter Them

In a complex and lengthy decision, the Fourth District Court of Appeals of Florida (“4th DCA”) in Stone v. Stone, 2014 WL 5834826 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) found a trial court erred in part, but nevertheless affirmed the result that held a transfer of property following a person’s death was not an impermissible devise of homestead property.  Homestead property is an important aspect in estate planning, trust, and probate law.  It has different meanings depending on the context in which it is used, which can range from an exemption to ad valorem taxes,...

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