Clay County Probate - Probate in Florida
When you have a loved one pass away, there are many things to think about, and one of the thoughts that may spring to mind is - do I have to hire a probate lawyer right away? The answer is it's best to get it out of the way as soon as possible.
Florida probate law requires that all estates that need administration be handled by a lawyer. There are only a few cases in which you can bypass hiring a probate lawyer. If you are doing disposition without administration, which is applicable for small estates or where the personal representative is the sole beneficiary, you do not need to hire a probate lawyer. Also, if it is a spouse who has died and all the assets owned by the spouse were co-owned by the surviving spouse, Florida law states that all those assets are automatically given to the surviving spouse. However, some simple estates still require administration. If the deceased spouse owned anything on their own, then you will need to hire a probate lawyer to administer the probate of the estate that was not jointly owned.
There are many factors that affect the probate of an estate and all of the factors impact how long it takes to close the probate and how much the probate lawyer will charge you for their services.
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 you can expect for a non-taxable estate is four to five weeks, for a summary administration and six to twelve months for a full administration. For taxable estates, you will wait approximately two years for the estate probate to be finished by the probate lawyer, mostly because the IRS needs to sign off on the estate tax return before any further work can be done to close the probate.
You are also not required to hire a Clay County Probate Lawyer to handle the administration on the estate - you can hire any Florida area probate attorney to do the work - most of the work on a probate is done electronically. It is recommended that you hire a Clay County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Clay County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc.
During this difficult time, hiring a probate attorney to assist you can be the best decision you can make to ensure your loved one's estate is handled properly.
