What To Do When A Loved One Dies
A LOVED ONE JUST DIED, HOW DO I GET STARTED?
CALL US – 813-413-1300 or set up an appointment online.
We’ll tell you what you need to do, give you a checklist and some instructions on how to proceed and we’ll start the process of settling the estate depending on the assets involved and the documents (or lack thereof) the decedent used to pass their assets to their heirs.
PROBATE IS LIKELY NEEDED – WHAT IS PROBATE?
Probate is the procedure used to help determine the validity of wills or other documents and oversees the transfer of a person’s assets and payment for any debts when they die (the decedent). When a loved one passes on, immediately there are many important steps and tasks that must be accomplished. We have a checklist of items to take care of as well as some suggestions and points of caution.
During Probate, the assets of the estate are distributed according to the wishes of the decedent’s will or trust. If there is no will, then the assets will be distributed according to state law, to the decedent’s heirs. Sometimes during this process, wills and trusts are contested – meaning heirs or other interested parties get upset at the proposed distribution of assets and/or payments. Some assets pass automatically or outside of probate based on their character or how they were titled. There are different types of probate administration, including formal administration, summary administration and ancillary administration.
We’ll tell you what you need to do, give you a checklist and some instructions on how to proceed and we’ll start the process of settling the estate depending on the assets involved and the documents (or lack thereof) the decedent used to pass their assets to their heirs.
FORMAL ADMINISTRATION
Formal administration is used when an estate’s total value of assets exceeds $75,000. After a loved one’s passing, it is important to establish the existence and the validity of a will or trust. If the will is valid, the probate court will proceed to distribute assets according to the will. If there is no will or trust, the probate proceeds as an intestate estate and distrubtes assets according to Florida Statutes and its inheritance laws.
Responsibilities during this period that your attorney will oversee include: managing the distribution of estate assets, including payment of state and federal taxes; hearing any contested claims by creditors or others seeking to collect from the estate; choosing a personal representative when one is not named in the will; deciding which possessions are subject to estate administration; determining a decedent’s true heirs in accordance with state law; ruling on the legitimacy of any claims outstanding against the estate; determining whether homestead property has been properly devised; and supervising the transfer of assets to beneficiaries named in the will or to the heirs pursuant to Florida law, if there is no will.
Generally, a formal probate can be completed in approximately 6 months, but it will often take longer. Will contests, payment to creditors, property being sold and non-cooperative heirs/beneficiaries are the majority of causes of delay.
SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION
Summary administration is used when an estate’s total value of assets is less than $75,000, or more than two years has elapsed since the decedent’s passing. Exempt assets such as the decedent’s homestead are not included in the calculation of the estate’s value.
Your attorney will submit all of the required documents to the court at one time adn the court will enter an order (prepared by your attorney) as to who is entitled to the assets. No personal representative is appointed during this process. The court order is then used by the heirs to claim ownership of bank accounts and other assets of the decedent.
ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION
Florida Ancillary Estate Administration is used when a non-Floridian dies owning assets, usually real estate, in the State of Florida. Ancillary probate proceedings may either be formal or summary, depending on the value of the assets. This process is generally treated similarly to a Florida Probate, but will require documents from the decedent’s probate proceedings in their home state.
TRUST ADMINISTRATION
Sometimes probate is needed even when you have a trust. Often, decedent’s acquire assets that are not properly disposed of through the trust documents. Attorney’s are often used as Trust Administrators. Unless otherwise required by the trust agreement, a trust may be administered by the trustee without court oversight. However, some of the trustee’s duties are similar to those of a personal representative in a probate. Upon the death of the creator of the trust, the successor trustee must gather all the trust assets, determine and pay all valid creditors, pay any taxes, and supervise the management and distribution of the trust assets. The terms of the trust agreement dictates what is to happen upon the trust creator’s death. Under certain circumstances, documents must be filed with the probate court to comply with requirements that creditors be made aware of the existence of the trust assets.
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my aunt died in Miami Kendall. she wasmarried to a surgeon they lived in texas and then came down to florida to retire.my uncle died on 08/10/2001 and my aunt died in august of 2010.. i know my aunt had over 100,000.00 for each niece but then my aunt asked me to take over the accounts and i told her i could not do it because i work for a company and i can only get out when they give me permision and i told her askmy other cousin she is retire and if something happens to you she can take care of you but she wanted me to take care of her and i could not do it. i live in tampa and she lived in Kendall,Miami.. so my cousin from georgia would go sometimes in plane sometimes traveled down in car with her girlfriend but I am sure my aunt paid her everytime she felt sickand wanted her to be there anyway. we knew my aunt had made a will and she told us she was leaving the money for her nieces because her sisters did not need it because they were ok. somehow my cousing from georgia and my aunts girlfriend from homestead were the only ones that knew about the will. my aunt died in august 2010 and in feb 2011 we received a letter from my cousing saying that my aunt only had one cd and that it will be distributed between the 3 sisters she has living and 10 nieces. she send checks from the account 3000.00 per sister + 9000.00 and 800.00 per nice which is 10 =8000.00 so with 17000.00 she send everybody a check. from her own account. and she said it will be paid in 5 years one month every february and to expect less going forward because she has to pay penalties toget that money out. so 17000.00 x 5 = 85000.00 cd is what she is saying she had. when i know thru people that we knew in the bank that my aunt had my cousing asked this lady if my uncle had money and she said he has enought to pay 100.000.00 per cousins.. that was back in 2000 then came the martha stewart case of taking peoples money but i am sure my uncle did not loose so much money. anyway she is telling us that she is handeling her accounts and that is all we are getting I looked at the property appraisaland her pool home in kendal is under my cousins name also. i was told that the day after my aunt dies she closed 3 accounts in Miami kendall. and she is only telling us that she had one cd. ? how can I findout what was on my aunt will since she never send us copy of the will for us to look at. what do I need to do. my cusins do not want to talkto her they are calling her a thief and really that is what she did andy advice . ? thanks Lourdes