Probate proceedings in Florida are designed to move assets from a decedent to their beneficiaries through a supervised legal process. Most of the time that process is administrative: paperwork, publications, accountings, and a final court order. When the process becomes contested, it transforms into something that looks much more like civil litigation, with depositions, expert witnesses, evidentiary hearings, and in some cases jury trials on specific questions of fact. The disputes that generate probate litigation often carry more emotional weight than commercial litigation because they arise within families and because what is at stake is not just money but the final expression of what a person wanted their legacy to mean.
What a probate litigation lawyer brings to a contested Florida proceeding is the ability to navigate both the specialized probate rules that govern these disputes and the civil litigation skills that contested hearings require, because the intersection of those two frameworks is where most litigants without experienced counsel struggle most.
Will Contests and the Grounds That Support Them
A will contest in Florida must be based on one or more recognized legal grounds: lack of testamentary capacity, meaning the testator did not understand the nature of the act, the extent of their property, or the natural objects of their bounty at the time of execution; undue influence, meaning another person substituted their will for the testator’s through improper pressure; fraud or duress; or failure to comply with the formal requirements of execution under Florida Statutes Section 732.502. Simply disagreeing with the testator’s choices is not a ground for contest. The contestant must establish one of these specific defects, and the burden of proof is on the contestant for most grounds, with the exception that once undue influence is raised, the burden may shift to the proponent of the will under certain circumstances.
Undue Influence Claims and the Evidence They Require
Undue influence is the most commonly litigated ground for will contests in Florida. It requires showing that the influencer had a confidential relationship with the testator, was active in procuring the will, and benefited from it. Florida courts apply a presumption of undue influence when these circumstances are present, which shifts the burden to the proponent of the will to explain the testator’s choices through non-suspicious means. The evidence in undue influence cases comes from medical records documenting the testator’s cognitive condition, testimony from people who interacted with the testator and the alleged influencer during the relevant period, financial records showing the influencer’s access to and control over the testator’s accounts, and the drafting attorney’s file documenting how the will came to be prepared.
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Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Personal Representatives
When a personal representative mismanages estate assets, makes self-interested transactions, fails to distribute the estate in accordance with the will, or otherwise breaches the fiduciary duties Florida law imposes on them, beneficiaries have the right to bring a surcharge action in the probate court. A surcharge is a judgment against the personal representative personally for the amount of the loss the estate or its beneficiaries suffered as a result of the breach. Florida Statutes Section 733.609 provides that a personal representative is liable for a breach of fiduciary duty, and the range of conduct that constitutes such a breach is broad enough to encompass most forms of self-dealing, negligent management, and deliberate delay in distribution.
Trust Disputes and the Intersection With Probate Litigation
When a decedent had a revocable trust that was the primary vehicle for their estate plan, disputes about the trust’s administration or validity proceed under the Florida Trust Code rather than the probate code, but the parties, the evidentiary issues, and the family dynamics are often the same as in probate litigation. Trustee removal proceedings, beneficiary accountings, and trust construction actions all proceed in the circuit court’s probate division. The Florida Trust Code under Chapter 736 of the Florida Statutes governs trust disputes in Florida, including the standards for trustee removal, the accountings trustees must provide, and the procedures for resolving disagreements about trust interpretation or administration.
