USA – FLORIDA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Jennifer Jordan McCall, Jennifer Altman, Christine Tsai and Maria Williams, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
The representative moved to strike the son’s claims by stating that the son was not an “interested person” in the estate because he was only a trust beneficiary, rather than a direct beneficiary of the estate. The court disagreed with this, and ruled that the son was an “interested person” in the decedent’s estate because he was a beneficiary of the testamentary trust, and would reasonably be expected to be affected by the Occasionally, a client is placed in a nursing home against their will by a spouse who alleges that the client cannot care for themselves. This approach can be taken to the extreme when the client is not really in need of continuous medical assistance. In some cases, the nursing home in which the client is placed is not of a very good quality. In this case, the client can succumb to numerous medical issues and may not live very long. Loved ones should be on hand to advocate for the client so that they are either placed in a good-quality medical facility or receive round-the- clock nursing at home. outcome of the proceedings. Nursing home considerations
Will and revocable trust estate planning documents In another recent case, a very wealthy client lived alone. While he had attempted to create a will with his estate planning attorney, he did not complete the pro - cess. He died without any clear record of which estate planning documents he intended to use to control his vast estate. Litigation arose among the intestate heirs who thought he died intestate and other beneficiaries who produced a document which they asserted was a handwritten, or holographic, will. Without adequate records as to whether the holographic will was valid, and without the client having completed his official estate planning documents, the case was poised for extended litigation. Fortunately, the parties reached a settlement, avoiding years of potential protracted and expensive proceedings. In this case, the impact of taxes on the various beneficiaries’ interests were a key tool in reaching a settlement. This highlights the importance of ensuring that your clients have their wills and trusts up to date, and that the originals are carefully safeguarded in a vault at the lawyer’s office. This can alleviate any uncertainty, and can mitigate against the possibility of foul play if documents that control a vast amount of wealth are neither safeguarded nor certain to be valid.
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