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Showing posts from December, 2013

Geezil v. Savage

Geezil v. Savage , 2013 WL 6246205 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) This case involved a dispute between the decedent's daughter from his first marriage and his second wife.  The decedent apparently drafted his own valid will which divided his property between the daughter and the wife.  Unfortunately, the will had several deficiencies, including devises of non-probate assets and a lack of a residuary clause, which resulted in years of litigation, substantially depleting the estate.   On appeal, the Court was asked to consider the order in which the estate assets would deplete, given that the litigation created larger than expected class 1 expenses.  The wife made a claim for funeral and burial expenses, which was ultimately settled by the co-personal representatives pursuant to F.S. 733.708.  The probate court held that the funeral expenses could be paid to the wife from an investment account that was a general devise to the daughter in the will.  The Appellate Court found that althoug

Pierce v. Pierce

Pierce v. Pierce , 2013 WL 6438955 My father, Chuck Rubin, recently posted an excellent summary of the Pierce v. Pierce  decision dealing with an attempt by an estate beneficiary and signatory to a settlement agreement's attempt to vacate that settlement agreement: RUBIN ON TAX: FATIGUE, DISTRESS, AND SECOND THOUGHTS NOT ENOUGH ... : Most will and trust disputes in Florida involve at least one mediation attempt – either by order of the trial court or agreement of the part...