Probate and Estate Litigation Mean the Same Thing

Hi, I'm Reed Bloodworth the Founding Partner of Bloodworth Law, PLLC, located at 224 East Marks Street, Orlando, Florida.

Probate Litigation = Estate Litigation

Today I wanted to try and clarify that Probate and EstateLitigation Mean the Same Thing. I know there’s some confusion some of my clients have. I represent clients in probate and estate litigation, and trust litigation.

Probate or Estate Litigation?

Clients sometimes are confused as to the use of the terms probate litigation and estate litigation. I want to let you know these words are interchangeable. They're the same thing.

Probate or estate litigation is litigation that takes place inside the formal probate of someone's will.

What Happens in Probate? 

What happens in Probate? So what that means is when someone passes away their will is submitted to the court for authentication and then the court oversees the personal representative as they administer the estate. 

What is Probate Estate? 

So oftentimes you hear the term probate estate. That means that's the official name for when a personal representative is appointed over the estate of someone who has passed away.

Litigation takes place within the formal probate. So litigation in probate can have many types of causes of action relate to different things.

Some of the more common probate or estate litigation I see relate to undue influence claims, lack of capacity claims, or tortious interference with a testamentary expectancy claims.

You will also often see claims for breach of fiduciary duty against a personal representatives.

I Represent Beneficiaries & Personal Representatives

Regarding these types of claims, I represent both personal representatives and I represent beneficiaries who believe they're owed more under this person's will.

So that is probate litigation and estate litigation. Interchangeable terms all involving the probate of someone's will and disputes that arise therein.

So again my name is Reed Bloodworth, Founding Partner of Bloodworth Law, PLLC. Give me a call. Let’s talk about what happened to you.

What is Florida Trust & Estate Litigation?

Attorney Reed Bloodworth Law Payment Options

Terminally Ill Isolated Family Member Changes a Will

Hi. I’m Reed Bloodworth a business litigation estate and trust litigation attorney in Orlando Florida. Today I wanted to discuss some common scenarios in trust and estate litigation where it may be in your best interest to contact a trust and estate litigation attorney.

Terminally Ill Isolated Family Member Changes a Will 

These scenarios consist of situations where a terminally ill isolated family member changes a will or trust has been changed and the person who was changing the will or trust suffered from potentially some type of health issue or had been isolated from their family.

Dementia or Alzheimer's Some of these common scenarios are the person making the trust or the will had dementia or Alzheimer’s. Another common one is the person was in very poor health or was heavily medicated potentially on their death bed.

Isolated Person Changes Will or Trust

Another common scenario is when the person changing the will or the trust has been completely isolated from the rest of their family by someone else.

These types of situations are situations where wills or trusts are changed under very suspicious circumstances. For example if someone has dementia or they have Alzheimer’s or they are heavily medicated due to a severe medical condition or perhaps they’re in hospice just because they’re very elderly these are all situations where the person making the change to the will or trust may not have had the mental capacity to make those changes.

When Elderly Person is Kept Isolated

The situation where the person changing the will or trust is you know isolated from their family this is a sadly a common scenario where an elderly person is not allowed to speak with potentially their sons or daughters or other family members and they are kept isolated from those people who were beneficiaries under a prior will or trust and are surprised at the time of death or sometime after the person dies to find out that they are no longer beneficiaries that the person who had isolated them is now the sole recipient of all of that person’s estate.

Undue Influence=Control Over Person Making Change

These types of situations give rise to various claims. Some common ones are undue influence. Undue influence is a situation where the person who had the will changed for their benefit had a control over the person that was making the change. They may have had a high degree of difference in their mental abilities which harkens back to the various medical conditions we talked about or they simply could’ve isolated this person they could have berated them harassed them done a number of things to make them change their will or trust to name the new beneficiary the sole beneficiary of the will or trust.

Making Changes with Alzheimer's or Severe Dementia, or Heavy Medication

The other very common cause of action in this situation is lack of capacity. When someone has Alzheimer’s they have severe dementia they are heavily medicated because they’re dying of cancer or they’re very elderly and they’re in hospice care these people typically do not have the mental capacity to understand what it is they’re doing when they change a will or they change a trust.

The law requires a person to have the mental capacity to understand what it is they’re doing at the time they execute a will or trust. If they don’t that will or trust can be challenged in court and can be voided so that the proper beneficiaries receive what they should have to begin with.

These are just some common scenarios and they’re scenarios that if you experience this it would likely be in your interest to contact a trust and estate litigation attorney.

So again my name is Reed Bloodworth an attorney in Orlando Florida. Give me a call. Let’s talk about what happened to you.

What to Do When Accused of Breach of Contract

I often am asked what to do when accused of a breach of contract?

 Hi, I’m Reed Bloodworth an Orlando Florida attorney. I’ve been practicing business litigation commercial litigation and estate and trust litigation since 2004.

What to Do When Accused of Breach of Contract

Well there are a number of things you can do but something I would like to address is whether or not you should engage with the other party in verbal sparring or e-mail exchange or things of that nature. 

Can’t Take It Back

Often times this type of exchange with a person who’s been accusing you of breaching a contract can escalate the matter quickly. It can also lead to statements that perhaps you don’t really want out there. 

Remain Calm

So when you’ve been accused of breaching of contract I think the first thing to do is remain calm. You don’t want to immediately jump to the defense of this and write a nasty e-mail or leave a nasty voicemail or something of that nature.

Ask for Legal Advice

If you have an attorney it might be a good idea to inform the attorney of what’s going on and ask his advice or her advice.

Don’t Admit Breach

Another thing is, as a general rule, do not admit to any type of breach. You don’t want to leave a voicemail stating, “I’m sorry I breached the contract.” You don’t want to send an e-mail that says “I apologize for the breach I’ll make up for it.”

Valid Defense?

A lot of times you’re going to breach or be accused of a breach of contract and you’re going to have a valid defense. Perhaps the goods that you ordered weren’t properly made or they’re sub-standard work or the contractor that you hired did not perform adequately.

These are valid defenses to a claim for a breach of contract and a valid reason for you to withhold payment. So before you engage with someone who is accusing you of a breach contract speak to an attorney first.

Again my name is Reed Bloodworth an Orlando Florida attorney. Give me a call. Let’s talk about what happened to you.