Help Settling a Florida Estate
Tampa Bay Probate and Estate Administration Attorney
If your family member's estate will go through the probate process, The Charles Law Offices in Largo will guide you through the process to settle the estate as quickly and smoothly as possible. We can act as attorney to the personal representative or attorney to the trustee.
Susan M. Charles is an experienced probate and estate administration lawyer. She is available to assist clients in the Tampa Bay area, as well as relatives throughout Florida or from out-of-state who have the responsibility of settling the affairs of someone who died in Florida. Call 866-607-6531 for a free initial consultation.
Probate
Under Florida law, all estates valued at $75,000 or more must go through a formal probate process, unless the person had assets in trusts instead of a will, or had other probate avoidance techniques in place. The probate process typically takes about one year before distributions are made to beneficiaries and the estate closed.
Probate is time-consuming. If the person died without a will, if the will is challenged, or if the decedent had substantial assets, it can also be complicated. The Charles Law Offices can serve in two capacities:
(1) We can advise the personal representative of the estate in fulfilling probate duties; either an executor named in the will or administrator appointed by the court in the absence of a will.
(2) Susan Charles can serve as personal representative for the estate, taking on the entire estate administration burden for those who lack a family member or a close friend to entrust with this responsibility.
Probate duties include:
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Opening the estate in probate court
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Gathering assets
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Paying creditors
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Liquidating property
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Distributing money to beneficiaries
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Filing tax returns for the estate
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Closing the estate (accounting and reporting to the probate court)
Intestate Succession
If a person dies without a will, the State of Florida substitutes a statutory will. A surviving spouse receives a portion of the estate, and the remainder is split among the lineal descendants. If there are no children or grandchildren, the spouse inherits fully. If there is no living spouse or children, the succession is the (a) deceased's parents, (b) siblings, or (c) extended family and in-laws. This is just a basic idea of how intestate shares work — it is actually much more complex than this.
Statutory wills often lead to absurd results, such as estates with 30-40 beneficiaries, with much of the estate assets spent on locating and notifying the statutory beneficiaries, who might never have met or even heard of the deceased person. This is precisely why drafting a will or trust and speaking to an attorney is so important.
Contact The Charles Law Offices today to discuss fees and the level of legal services desired. If you are from out-of-state, we may be able to handle estate administration matters entirely without your need to travel to Florida at all.
Offices in Clearwater - Largo - St. Petersburg - Tampa
