This is a Florida estate matter. My Mom died in 2008. My Dad died in July 2009. They owned many properties jointly all acquired from my Mom. I never opened a probate for Mom. My parents were seperated at death. Until Sept '09 I assumed all property was that of my Dad. My Dad left a Will leaving most of the estate to out of wedlocks, caretaker and then the children from the marital union. In the process of my Dad's probate it has been learned that although my Dad's Will claimed ALL of the property held jointly, quite abit of the property is either jointly owned or solely owned by my Mom. You should know almost 95% of all the properties acquired during their marriage came directly from my Mom's inheirtance from her parents. To date, I don't know what will be determined to be placed into my Mom's estate, yet I am told the most valuable properties will be. But I know nothing more. Thereby, my question is should it be determined that 50% or more of all properties claimed in my Dad's Will belong to my Mom, does the law support me in asking a penalty to be imposed upon my Dad's estate for having claimed ALL of my Mom's share as this has indeed placed a real hardship upon me in paying all of her medical bills. During her life I could not get my Dad to designate any money for her care and she had exhausted all money and insurance requiring me to personally sign for all of her medical services.
Additionally, it seems quite clear that the out of wedlocks and caretaker stole money from my Dad while he was living and after he died. Is it reasonable to ask if this is supported in fact that a penalty is imposed upon them for doing so?
OK, I'm going to print this and read it and get back to you. There is alot of information there.
Then everything jointly owned passed to your father.
Everything not jointly owned then should have been distributed as per the state's intestate succession laws/statute.
732.101 Intestate estate.(1) Any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by will passes to the decedent's heirs as prescribed in the following sections of this code. (2) The decedent's death is the event that vests the heirs' right to the decedent's intestate property. 732.102 Spouse's share of intestate estate.The intestate share of the surviving spouse is: (1) If there is no surviving lineal descendant of the decedent, the entire intestate estate.
(2) If there are surviving lineal descendants of the decedent, all of whom are also lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, the first $60,000 of the intestate estate, plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate. Property allocated to the surviving spouse to satisfy the $60,000 shall be valued at the fair market value on the date of distribution.
(3) If there are surviving lineal descendants, one or more of whom are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate estate.
732.103 Share of other heirs.The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under s. 732.102, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, descends as follows:
(1) To the lineal descendants of the decedent.
(2) If there is no lineal descendant, to the decedent's father and mother equally, or to the survivor of them.
3) If there is none of the foregoing, to the decedent's brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased brothers and sisters.
(4) If there is none of the foregoing, the estate shall be divided, one-half of which shall go to the decedent's paternal, and the other half to the decedent's maternal, kindred in the following order:
(a) To the grandfather and grandmother equally, or to the survivor of them.
(b) If there is no grandfather or grandmother, to uncles and aunts and descendants of deceased uncles and aunts of the decedent.
(c) If there is either no paternal kindred or no maternal kindred, the estate shall go to the other kindred who survive, in the order stated above.
(5) If there is no kindred of either part, the whole of the property shall go to the kindred of the last deceased spouse of the decedent as if the deceased spouse had survived the decedent and then died intestate entitled to the estate.
(6) If none of the foregoing, and if any of the descendants of the decedent's great-grandparents were Holocaust victims as defined in 1s. XXX.XXXX(3)(b), including such victims in countries cooperating with the discriminatory policies of Nazi Germany, then to the lineal descendants of the great-grandparents. The court shall allow any such descendant to meet a reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof to substantiate his or her lineage. This subsection only applies to escheated property and shall cease to be effective for proceedings filed after December 31, 2004.
732.104 Inheritance per stirpes.Descent shall be per stirpes, whether to lineal descendants or to collateral heirs. 732.105 Half blood.When property descends to the collateral kindred of the intestate and part of the collateral kindred are of the whole blood to the intestate and the other part of the half blood, those of the half blood shall inherit only half as much as those of the whole blood; but if all are of the half blood they shall have whole parts.
732.107 Escheat.(1) When a person dies leaving an estate without being survived by any person entitled to a part of it, that part shall escheat to the state.
What assets did she own at the time of her death?
She owned jointly with my Dad more than $1.2 million in real estate.
That property passed automatically to your father upon her death.
What property did she own individually?
NO! That is just it, they have said in the probate verification and search my Dad DID NOT INHERIT ALL of the property. My Mom still has her own share. THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I am reaching out to you. They have determined ALL did not go to my Dad. This is why I am asking IF the Judge will impose a penalty upon my Dad's estate for claiming all of the property. Is this likely?
Additionally, IF it is proven that the out of wedlocks and caretaker stole my Dad's money while he was alive AND after his death, then is an additional penalty imposed upon them?
He/his estate will have to return any assets taken that he didn't have the right to. The court will not only order return of the assets but will also impose penalties of interest and court costs agains the estate.
Beyond interest and the penalties of the court costs - the judge will not order more.
Yes, that would be theft and the judge would refer (if proven) it to the police or DA's office for follow-up.
The judge might go further and sanction them moreso - it all depends upon what was proven and what their intent was at the time - or what they knew and yet did regardless and fraudulently.
Attorney
19 years experience in estate and trust planning, probate, and wills