Estate and Trust Litigation
Estate and Trust Litigation
The passing of a loved one often brings up old emotions, old hurt or anger that have little or nothing to do with the person that has passed away. It is not uncommon for individuals to “expect“ an inheritance and be very upset or hurt when they don’t receive the amount or items they feel they were entitled to receive. Estate and trust disputes are becoming increasingly common in today’s society, and when it’s either a large estate or the expected inheritance is an important part of a persons perceived financial future, it only makes the emotions behind it more extreme.
Unfortunately, these situations come up when the person who purportedly created the document is no longer alive or capable of explaining the document and their reasoning behind it. This is why it is so important to engage quality estate planning counsel who can keep good records and be the “voice” for the person after they are gone. Sometimes these situations are unavoidable regardless of the quality of your counsel however.
Will contests arise when people are contesting the validity of a Last Will and Testament, or which document should be the proper representation of someone’s intentions when they’ve passed away. Whether it’s how assets were distributed, or who was named as the fiduciary (personal representative), these disputes often start in probate court.
Trust disputes, arise a little differently, whether a beneficiary has just found out about an irrevocable trust, or a trust has been recently become irrevocable due to the passing of a family member, trust disputes are similar to Will contests but procedurally start a little differently in Florida.
The two most common causes of action that are alleged in this situation are “lack of capacity” and “undue influence”.
Lack of Capacity is the allegation that the person who made the testamentary document (whether a Will or a Trust) did not have the required mental ability to create the document. In Florida, the required mental ability or capacity is generally thought of as whether the creator (a settlor, grantor or testator/testatrix) can understand, in general terms, the nature and value of their estate (i.e. – their “stuff”), the “natural objects of their bounty” (i.e. – their family and loved ones) and how the Will or Trust affects those two (i.e. – what the Will or Trust gives to who). Whether its due to Alzheimer’s or dementia, or maybe something as simply as they are just blind and the document wasn’t read to them, not understanding this vitally important document and what it does after they are no longer alive to explain it can create unnecessary stress and expense for an estate and family fighting over whether the person had “capacity”.
Undue influence is another common cause of action with estates and trusts. Rather than the person not understanding what they were signing, a charge of undue influence is an allegation that someone (usually a spouse, family member or trusted caregiver) substitutes what they want for what the document creator wanted. Undue influence brings to mind the “wicked stepmother” scenario – where dad’s subsequent wife convinces him through duress, force or coercion to change his desired estate plan to benefit her and not who he, if free from the duress or coercion, would have passed his estate to. It’s the proverbial “gun to the head”.
Breach of fiduciary duty is another common cause of action or claim that is made in this universe. That is a situation where rather than accusing the person who created the estate plan of not having the right mental capacity, or being unduly influenced by some outside person, this is a claim that the that the person nominated to be the trustee or the personal representative is either not following the terms of the document that bind them, or they are looking after their own benefit or benefit of certain beneficiaries to the expense, or the detriment of others.
Sometimes beneficiaries want to argue about what particular asset they were given, and why that is less valuable than an asset that another family member received. These are common inheritance disputes as well.
Elder abuse and/or guardianship disputes are related situations that tend to arise after a person has passed away because prior to the persons passing the family members didn’t know what state their loved one was in, or did not feel comfortable bringing up the fact that they were not being well cared for and as healthy as they could have been, but only feel capable of bringing these claims against the caregivers, professionals or family members entrusted with their care, after someone’s passed away.
Regardless of the claim or the complexity of the estate or case, Mr. Bruce can help family members or beneficiaries navigate this very difficult set of circumstances, either alone, or by affiliating with other dedicated litigators.