Calhoun County 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.
Losing a loved one is a difficult time to bear, and you can rest assured knowing that you need not rush out and hire a probate lawyer right away. Take some time for yourself and your family to cope with the grief and loss before trying to find a lawyer to take care of the estate. The sooner you act, the better. When you are ready to hire a Probate lawyer you immediately start the steps in motion.
Each probate is different and requires different time limits to be finished. For a non-taxable estate that only requires a summary administration, your probate should be completed in four to five weeks. A non-taxable estate that requires a full administration usually takes between six and twelve months to complete. A taxable estate takes approximately two years to complete as you need to wait for the IRS to sign off on the estate tax return before the probate can be concluded. The time that it takes to finish a probate also will impact the cost of your probate.
The vast majority of estates in Florida require a Probate lawyer to administer them. If the estate is small or if the sole beneficiary of the estate is also the executor, then you may not need a Probate lawyer to administer the estate and you can do it with disposition without administration. However, all other estates must go through probate and Florida probate law states that you must have a Probate lawyer to do the administration on the case. The administration on an estate case is quite complicated and complex and can be difficult for a non-lawyer to do themselves. Even if you have a relatively simple estate, it may be wise to hire a Probate lawyer to look over it anyway.
Your Probate lawyer usually will charge for his or her services 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.
You are not bound by geography when hiring a Florida probate attorney - you can hire one wherever is most convenient for you. Most of the probate process is conducted by phone, fax and postal mail, as well as email; therefore you do not have to choose a Calhoun County Probate Lawyer . It is recommended that you hire a Calhoun County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Calhoun County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc.
If you lost your spouse, you may not require that his or her estate go through probate. In Florida, survivorship assets that are jointly held by both spouses are given automatically to the surviving spouse when one passes away. However, there are some considerations with the estate of your spouse, especially if he or she owned property or assets by themselves. A Probate lawyer will be able to direct you in this matter as well. Don't try to administer your loved ones' estate by yourself, get an expert's assistance.
