START PLANNING WITH BRUCE LAW TODAY
Estate Administration / Probate
for Your Final Security
Estate Administration / Probate
Estate administration and probate administration refer to the same process. Any assets which are owned in the sole name of the decedent, which have no beneficiary designations, must fall into the decedent’s estate and the only way to transfer or sell estate assets, aka probate assets, is to initiate the appropriate court supervised probate process.
Estate administration refers to the distribution of assets after someone passes away. This process is also known as probate administration
Probate is the court supervised process in which a deceased person’s assets are transferred to the beneficiaries listed in his or her will. When there is a Will and/or trust which was executed by the decedent prior to death, the estate is referred to as “testate.” When there is no Will or estate planning documents to dictate to whom estate assets are to be distributed, the estate is referred to as “intestate.” Every state has their own version of an intestacy statute, which stipulate the default rules for how a person’s property is to be distributed.
There are three general stages of probate:
-
Validating the Last Will and Testament, or stipulating that there is no Will, and appointing a personal representative (aka executor);
-
Inventorying all of your assets, identifying and settling debts, and filing the necessary taxes & forms; and
-
Disbursing the remaining assets to the identified beneficiaries or heirs in accordance with the Last Will and Testament, or with the Florida intestacy statute.
Types of Probate Administration
There are different forms of probate available in Florida, depending on the circumstances involved with the estate, namely:
Formal Administration – a probate proceeding involving the full probate process, required of any estate that is projected to have assets valued over $75,000. The formal probate process includes appointing a personal representative, publishing notice to creditors, establishing the 90 day creditor period, dealing with or resolving all creditors, and distributing the rest of their assets to those people named in a Will or other valid document.
Summary Administration – a streamlined version of the probate process for small-value estates under $75,000. A summary administration does not result in the appointment of a personal representative, and generally does not require a publication of notice to creditors. A summary administration involves the circuit court judge issuing one order transferring all identified property directly to the beneficiaries.
Ancillary Administration – a probate proceeding conducted for controlling, selling or transferring real estate held in a state or country, other than the state of last residence of the decedent. Generally the domiciliary probate/estate must first be established in the state that the decedent was domiciled in at the time of death. Once the executor is appointed for the domiciliary estate (i.e. – the main probate), they can petition to open an ancillary administration. The reason this is required is because the local probate courts must grant authority or sanction the transfer of real estate in order to effectively clear title. For instance, if a resident of another state dies owning a vacation home in Florida, then an ancillary administration would be opened in Florida after the primary (or domiciliary) probate was opened in the state of their residence. The Florida – ancillary – administration would only be for the vacation home, while the domiciliary administration would handle the remaining assets. Conversely, if someone passes away as a Florida resident but owned real estate in another state, an ancillary administration would be required in that other state to allow the personal representative to sell or distribute that property. The services of a qualified estate planning attorney can help mitigate, or even eliminate, the need for ancillary administrations by titling the other properties in a way so as to avoid that probate all together (e.g. – by putting them in an LLC or a revocable trust).
Administration of a Non-Resident – a type of formal or summary probate conducted on behalf of a decedent whose last residence was outside the state of Florida, but no domiciliary probate was necessary.
​
Trust Administration - oftentimes, people create a trust as a part of their estate plan (either revocable or irrevocable). When a person’s primary estate planning document is a revocable or living trust and they pass away, there needs to be an initial administration similar to a probate (but with several important differences). Oftentimes, trusts are created that need to have some tasks done on a regular basis even after the initial administration. A major advantage of using a Revocable Trust or Living Trust as your primary document instead of a Last Will and Testament is that the Court isn’t involved at all (or at least not as heavily involved). At Bruce Estate Law, we can assist with a trust administration - whether initial or ongoing - throughout Florida. This is technically not a probate process, but is similar and included here.
Beneficiary Representation - most people, when choosing their trustees and personal representatives, try their best to appoint the right person. Even if they were the right person at the time they were added to the document (or at the time the person was appointed to serve), the person may be overwhelmed, confused, grieving themselves over the loss of the person, or going through something in their own life that affects their service to the estate. Occasionally, the trustee or executor may have ill intent or be acting in their own interests instead of the “estate”s. The system is set up so that the primary check on the representative’s authority is the heirs or beneficiaries. Heirs and beneficiaries are often grieving and may be overwhelmed by their own lifes and cannot adequately ensure their rights are protected. In these cases it is important for beneficiaries to have someone “in their corner” protecting their interests and making sure the representative (whether it is a trustee or personal representative a/k/a executor) does their job properly and ethically. Bruce Estate Law has years of experience representing beneficiaries throughout Florida and the United States (for Florida estates and trusts). Give us a call today and see if we can help you.
We can assist with your administration and probate needs in the following areas throughout Florida:
-
Formal Probate Administration
-
Summary Probate Administration
-
Florida Ancillary Probate Administration
-
Asset Distribution
-
Trust Administration
-
Representation of Personal Representatives or Executors
-
Representation of Heirs
-
Representation of Trustees
-
Serving as a Trustee
-
Serving as an Executor