One of the situations a lot of people may not be familiar with is what must be done if a Florida resident dies but also owns property or assets outside of the state of Florida. This is why it is so very important to carefully review what the decedent owned and where all the assets are physically located. You will need to provide this critical information to your Probate and Estate Administration Attorney, hopefully during your initial consultation.
The process to probate out of state property is called Ancillary Probate Administration. This is different from the Florida Probate Administration, which is called the Domiciliary Probate Administration. The Florida Domiciliary Probate Administration cannot be properly completed until the out of state Ancillary Probate Administration is finished.
Many times, Ancillary Probate Administration occurs when the Florida decedent owns real property, such as a summer residence in the state of North Carolina. In that situation you will need a licensed member of the North Carolina Bar to represent you regarding the Ancillary Probate Administration for that property.
You will need to consult with an experienced Florida Estate Planning Attorney to properly advise you on how the out of state Ancillary Probate Administration and Florida Domiciliary Probate Administration interact with each other. Your Florida Probate Attorney can assist you with that interaction and coordination with the out of state Ancillary Probate Attorney.
Sometimes a person who is not a Florida resident owns, for example, a vacation home in Florida. In that situation the Florida probate would be processed by a licensed Florida Bar Attorney regarding a Florida Ancillary Estate Administration, and the decedent’s Domiciliary Probate Estate Administration would occur in the decedent’s resident state.
If you do not properly and timely disclose the out of state probate property, until after the Florida Domiciliary Probate Administration is finished and you are improperly discharged as Florida Personal Representative of the Florida Estate, The Florida Estate will incur expenses and fees that otherwise could have been avoided.
Also, as Florida Personal Representative, The Estate beneficiaries in Florida and out of state, could seek to have you personally, and not the Estate, pay the additional expenses to re-open the Florida Estate in order for the out of state Ancillary Probate to occur. However, if the out of state property was not realistically able to be discovered until after the Florida Probate concluded, the Florida Probate would re-open as noted above, but the expenses and fees would typically be paid from the Estate assets.
Obviously, this process can be complicated. You should obtain an experienced Estate and Probate Attorney to represent you, if you are the Personal Representative of the Estate, and or the beneficiary of the Estate, to ensure the proper steps have been accomplished to properly administer both the Domiciliary and Ancillary Probate Estates.
If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. on 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. You may also visit my website at: https://www.annmariegildenlaw.com
This article is for informational purposes only and does not form an attorney client privilege.