Rubin on Probate Litigation

Ciungu v. Bulea , 162 So.3d 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), 40 Fla.L.Weekly D.689c The decedent's here, a husband and wife, died intestate owning property in both Florida and Romania. One of their children filed Petitions for Administration in both estates and was appointed as personal representative.  He filed probate inventories and served them on his sister and no objections were filed. The trial court entered an order requiring the personal representative to hold his sister's share of the Estate assets in a restricted account until the sister had fulfilled her obligation to ensure legal title to the Romanian properties was properly vested in the persons entitled to receive those properties under Romanian law. The sister filed a motion to vacate that order, asserting that the probate court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the Romanian property.  At the hearing on the Motion to Vacate, the trial court heard several other issues and ultimately made the following decis...

Estate of Maher v. Iglikova , -- So.2d -- (Fla. 3d DCA 2014), 2014 WL 1386660 This case centered around whether a minor child was a pretermitted child of the decedent. The decedent had two children during his lifetime, but he did not become aware of the existence of his second child until that child was approximately three years old (after he executed his last will).  After becoming aware of the child's existence, the paternity of that child was confirmed.  Once paternity was established, the decedent began making child support payments and continued to make those payments until his death. Upon his death, the child's mother filed her Petition to Determine Status as Pretermitted Child, Challenge Construction of Will and Determine Beneficiaries.  The mother of the decedent's other child filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the child was not a pretermitted child under F.S. 732.702 because (1) the child was not omitted from the will since she would t...