Boca Raton Probate - Probate in Florida
Christopher Q. Wintter Florida Probate Lawyer of Wintter & Associates, P.A.
Contact information: 2239 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, FL 33020 - Hollywood: 954-920-7014
Miami-Dade: 305-948-6788 - Boca Raton: 561-470-3448 - Fax: 954-920-7080
Wintter & Associates, P.A. is a Florida trust and estate law firm focusing its practice in the areas of probate administration, trust administration, guardianship administration, probate litigation, trust litigation, guardianship litigation, and estate planning. The firm's professionals are devoted to the representation of clients in estate, trust, probate, and guardianship proceedings. The firm is well known and is well respected by its colleagues, competitors, adversaries, and judges.
Christopher Q. Wintter has over 23 years of experience as a practicing attorney and is a recognized expert in Trust and Estate matters by the Florida Bar. Mr. Wintter earned his Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law (1987) and earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting with High Honors from the University of Florida (1982).
Our attorneys have a thorough understanding of the legal, tax and financial issues that come into play with complex Trusts and Estates. Mr. Wintter holds the prestigious Board Certification by the Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts, and Estates, a credential held by fewer than 350 attorneys out of the more than 90,000 attorneys licensed to practice law in Florida. Mr. Wintter has been Board Certified since 1999. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Wintter was a CPA and maintained his license as a Certified Public Accountant from 1984-2002.
To learn more about Wintter and Associates, P.A., please visit our web-site www.WintterLaw.com.
Grieving takes a lot out of a person, especially when you were close to the person who passed away; however, in the midst of your grief, you must consider some business aspects that are best dealt with as soon as possible. You should consider hiring a probate lawyer soon after the death of your loved on to get the estate into probate.
In most cases, Florida law requires that you have a probate lawyer to aid you through the administration of your probate, however if you are doing the estate through disposition without administration, which is common for very small estates and estates where one person is both the executor and the sole beneficiary you maybe able to handle this yourself. Otherwise, Florida probate law requires that you have an experienced attorney to represent your case. Even if you have a simple probate estate to handle, it is still best to seek the advice of a probate lawyer. Even simple estates are required to follow Florida probate law and that can be a daunting task for someone who is not fully familiarized with all the rules and regulations.
You are not required to hire any specific area Florida probate lawyer, regardless of where the estate is held or where you live. It is recommended that you hire a Boca Raton County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Boca Raton County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc. You can use any Florida probate lawyer of your choice because most of the probate is conducted through mail, fax, phone and email. Your probate lawyer will charge you per as 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.
The time that it takes to probate an estate is also highly variable on the complexity and differences in each probate case. After you hire a Boca Raton Probate Lawyer , you can expect a nontaxable estate probate that requires full administration to take between six and twelve months, while a probate requiring only a summary administration will take between four and five weeks. A taxable estate probate takes usually two years to complete and close, because the IRS must sign off on the Estate Tax Return before the probate can be closed.
If it is your spouse that has passed away and all their assets are co-owned with you, then you may not require a probate lawyer to help you with the estate probate. However, if any of the assets are held only by the deceased spouse, then you will require the estate to go through probate with a probate lawyer. Be smart and in this time of grief get professional assistance.
