Bay County Probate - Probate in Florida
Hiring a probate lawyer while you are grieving can be a difficult task, along with everything else you have to consider in the aftermath of a death of a loved one. However, hiring a probate lawyer should rank at the top of your priority list for your loved ones estate to be handled quickly. This will protect the estate assets, and get the assets to the beneficiaries as quickly as possible.
It is required that estates be probated by a Florida lawyer unless the estate is going through disposition without administration probate. This only applies to small estates or where the personal representative is the sole beneficiary, otherwise, all estates will require that you hire a probate lawyer to do the probate administration.
The formal administration of an estate is bound by Florida laws which are the specialty of a probate lawyer. Even if you don't require a probate lawyer to help with the administration of the probate, even simple estates can be daunting and frustrating to a non-lawyer. You can contact a probate lawyer to help you even with simple estates to ensure that the probate and administration is handled correctly.
You are not required to hire a probate lawyer in Bay County if the Estate is in Bay County area - because probate is largely completed by electronics - phone, mail, fax and email, so you can hire any Florida lawyer to administer the probate on an estate. It is recommended that you hire a Bay County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Bay County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc.
Each estate varies in complexity and there is a wide variety of factors that impact that complexity, but it is generally common that the attorney will charge you pursuant to 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.
Closing a probate takes a variable amount of time, depending on the type and complexity of the estate. A non-taxable estate that requires only summary administration takes between four to five weeks to complete, while a non-taxable estate that requires formal administration takes between six and twelve months, depending on the complexity. Taxable estates are usually completed within two years - the majority of the time spent waiting for the IRS to sign off on the Estate Tax Return before the probate is closed and completed.
Joint assets between spouses are given to the surviving spouse automatically in Florida, however if there are any assets only owned by the deceased, you will require the help of a probate lawyer to administer the rest of the estate. Speak to a Bay County Probate Lawyer today!
