Bryan v. Fernald

Bryan v. Fernald, --- So.3d --- (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)

In determining the beneficiaries of an estate, can a probate judge rely on a factual finding made by a judge in a medical malpractice case?  Here, where there was a question about the validity of the decedent's marriage at the time of her death, which would alter the determination of her intestate heirs, the Court held that the doctrine of res judicata did not apply, because in a probate action to determine beneficiaries and a medical malpractice suit, the things sued for and the causes of action are different.  

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