David A. Shulman's Answers

My husband died.. he had old will from former marriage. he has one adult son. can he sell my house and belongings in it?

Abraham Lincoln purportedly said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." There are two things that Ms. Brewer said that are correct: (1) That she does not know Florida Law; and (2) That you need to see an attorney. Florida has special rules with regards to the Homestead property. If you were legally married to your husband, then he is not allowed to give away the Homestead upon his death, unless he gave it to you. Because he didn't,...

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Does the family have to employ an attorney to file the paper work for a Summary of Administration?

Unlike Mr. Frederick who is not a Florida attorney and provided a meaningless and incorrect answer, I am an Florida attorney. Your family will be required to hire an attorney to administer the estate. Please note that in order to qualify for summary administration the TOTAL VALUE of the estate subject to probate has to be less than $75,000 (or, the decedent has to have been dead for more than two years, regardless of the estate's value). The total value includes the value of the land your...

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If my husband dies without a will and he has large credit card debts can they put a lien on the house which is in both our name?

The Florida lawyer has it right. The out of state lawyers are just trying to raise their Avvo score by opining on things that they know nothing about, and are giving wrong answers. In Florida, your homestead is not subject to the claims of creditors. Period (except creditors that are tied to the house itself, like the mortgage). So whether or not the house was in his name only or both of your names, or even whether he is alive or dead, the credit card companies may not place a lien on the...

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Mother's Will

Dear Questioner: I am going to write a brief message to Mr. Wong who answered the question, and then I will answer your question below. You can skip my message to him, if you like. Just know that Wong is Wrong. Dear Mr. Wong: Contact your malpractice carrier, because if this were a real life situation, you just committed it. You use say "You may want to look into having the independent administration of the estate terminated and make a request for supervised administration. Supervised...

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My two sons are my primary beneficiary to my 401K plan, if I re-marry how is the distribution divided in case of my death?

I agree with Kelly. Without a waiver from the spouse, the beneficiary designation on a 401(k) does not control. Note that in IRAs, the beneficiary designation does control.

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My husband died without a will, will the house go to me or our children, who belong to both of us?

Shame on you Ms. Shell and Mr. Robinson. If this were an exam you each would get an F. By answering questions in a jurisdiction that you aren't licensed to practice, and in which you don't know what you are talking about, you do a great disservice to the public. Your answers are 100% wrong. Assuming the house was not owned jointly, then the questioner will take a life estate in the house, with a remainder to the lineal descendants in being. Questioner, if you and your husband owned...

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Does FL spousal rights give 100% ownership to living spouse after death? Or can heirs take 1/2 via a will?

There are a number of questions here. First, who owns the house? Does he own it in his name only, or do you own in jointly? If you own your homestead jointly, then upon his death, you automatically receive the entire house, which he can not override by will or trust. Also, if you currently own your home jointly, he can not give away his half without your permission. If he owns it in his name only, then you are not entitled to 100%. Instead, you are entitled to what's known as a "...

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I live in Fl. would like my friend in CT to be executor of my will.

There's a reason that lawyers shouldn't answer questions in jurisdictions in which they aren't licensed to practice. In Florida, your Personal Representative (which is what we call the executor in Florida) has to be either a relative, or a Florida Resident (who may or may not be a relative). If you're friend lived in Florida, it would be ok. But since it's a non-relative who lives out of state, he can not be appointed the Personal Representative.

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X wife on a will.

Maybe. In Florida, there are certain restrictions that prevent you from devising your home under certain circumstances. If your father has remarried at the time of his death (and is still married to that woman) OR if your father has any minor children, that is children under the age of 18, at the time of his death, then his ex-wife will not receive the home.

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Owe doc stamps on the deed when transferring real property to a living trust?

There should be no doc stamp taxes on the transfer. However, you should really talk to an estate planning attorney to see if it is is a good idea to transfer a home that you (presumably) currently own as tenants by the entirety into a revocable trust. I don't know your individual circumstances, but generally, in almost all cases, it's a bad idea.

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