Alachua County Probate - Probate in Florida
Dealing with the death of a loved one is a trying time; however one of the most important things you can do is hire a probate attorney to help you with the probate of the estate. In almost all cases of estate probate in Florida, you will require a probate lawyer to help you. If you are doing disposition without administration, which is quite common for very small estates or where the executor is the sole beneficiary of the estate, you do not require a probate lawyer to help. For every other kind of estate and probate, Florida law requires that you have the assistance of a probate lawyer. The formal administration of an estate requires that many rules and technicalities be followed, even for estates when you don't require an attorney, for the non-lawyer, estates can be very frustrating and technical - calling a probate lawyer to help you, even with simple estates, is always a good idea.
You don't have to live in the area where your loved one died or use an Alachua County probate attorney if you want to administer a probate in Florida. Estates in Florida can be handled by any licensed attorney throughout the state. It is recommended that you hire an Alachua County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Alachua County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc.
The fees that are associated with a probate lawyer are most commonly charged per the fees set forth in the Florida Statutes Section 733.6171, which states:
733.6171 Compensation of attorney for the personal representative -
(1) Attorneys for personal representatives shall be entitled to reasonable compensation payable from the estate assets without court order.
(2) The attorney, the personal representative, and persona bearing the impact of the compensation may agree to compensation determined in a different manner than provided in this section if the manner is disclosed to the parties bearing the impact of the compensation and if no objection is made as provided for in the Florida Probate Rules.
(3) Compensation for ordinary services of attorneys in formal estate administration is presumed to be reasonable if based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value of the probate estate assets and the income earned by the estate during the administration as provided in the following schedule:
(a) One thousand five hundred dollars for estates having a value of $40,000 or less
(b) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $40,000, but not exceeding $70,000.
(c) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $70,000 and not exceeding $100,000.
(d) For estates having a value in excess of $100,000, at the rate of 3 percent on the next $900,000.
(e) At the rate of 2.5 percent for all above $1 million and not exceeding $3 million.
(f) At the rate of 2 percent for all above $3 million and not exceeding $5 million.
(g) At the rate of 1.5 percent for all above $5 million and not exceeding $10 million
(h) At a rate of 1 percent for all above $10 million.
If it is your spouse that has passed away, you may not need a probate lawyer to help you with the probate of the estate. Survivorship assets that are jointly held by the husband and wife are automatically given to the surviving spouse. There will be a few things to consider during probate, especially if there is anything only owned by the deceased spouse, however a probate lawyer can help you work through that as well.
If you do require that an estate go through the probate process, you can expect that a non-taxable estate will take between six and twelve months for formal administration and between four and five weeks for a summary administration after you have hired a probate lawyer. Taxable estates take approximately two years to complete because you require the IRS to sign off on the Estate Tax Return before the probate can be completed.
A quick call to a probate lawyer will help you find out if you require the services of an attorney or not. In most cases, you will, however, and it's best to get that representation as soon as possible. Speak to an Alachua County Probate Lawyer today!
