Gordon v. Kleinman

Gordon v. Kleinman, 120 So.3d 120, 2013 WL 4081027 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013):

Florida Statutes § 733.109(1) provides that a proceeding to revoke probate of a will can be commenced by any interested person, including a beneficiary under a prior will.  The Probate Code defines an "interested person" as "any person who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding involved." Fla. Stat. § 731.201(23).

To withstand a motion to dismiss, a petition for revocation of probate must do two things: (1) state the interest of the petitioner in the estate, and (2) present the facts constituting the grounds on which the revocation is demanded.  Fla. P. R. 5.270.  Petitioner here sought to revoke probate of a 2009 will.  She was a beneficiary of the decedent's 1983 will, but was not a beneficiary under any subsequent wills leading to the 2009 will.  Because she alleged that she was a beneficiary under the 1983 will, and that all of the decedent's other wills under which she was not a beneficiary were the result of undue influence and/or testamentary and therefore invalid, the Court found that she had pleaded sufficient allegations of standing to withstand the motion to dismiss.

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