When a loved one passes away, the decedent’s estate often goes through a court-managed process called probate or estate administration. If a Will exists, it is submitted to the Court, and if not, the decedent’s estate passes by intestacy under Florida law. An executor, who is also called the personal repersentative, is appointed as part of the probate process, and is responsible for identifying and gathering all of the decedent’s probate assets, taking an inventory of their value, attending to the decedent’s creditors and their claims, and then ultimately distributing the balance of the decedent’s probate assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries, either pursuant to the terms of the Will, or the laws of intestacy.
We work closely together with personal representatives as their legal counsel in the probate administration process. We also represent estate beneficiaries and help them get the information and distributive share that they are entitled to under Florida law.