Collier County Probate - Probate in Florida
Dealing with the death of someone close to you can be difficult to bear and there is often so much going on that you just aren't sure where to begin. You know that you need to hire a probate attorney but you don't have to do it in the midst of planning and attending a funeral - it can wait until things have settled back down a bit but then, you should look up a probate lawyer to hire to do the estate probate.
In nearly all estate cases, you are required by the Florida probate law to hire a probate lawyer to administer the estate. Unless you are doing a disposition without administration, which is the case for some small estates and estates where the executor is also the sole beneficiary, or you and your spouse co-owned all assets, you will need to hire a probate lawyer. If your spouse is the one who passed away and you jointly owned everything together, then you may not need to hire a probate lawyer. However some small estates and estates where the deceased spouse owned a few things on their own name only require administration. Administering the probate on an estate is very technical and can be quite difficult to do if you don't have a probate lawyer on your side to do the administration.
You can use any probate lawyer in Florida to administer the probate on an estate - you do not have to use a Collier County probate attorney. It is recommended that you hire a Collier County probate lawyer if there is contested litigation that needs to be held in the Collier County courthouse because you will have an attorney familiar with the local rules, judges, etc. The Florida probate laws only indicate that you must have a probate lawyer to do the administration on the estate and do not dictate where that lawyer must be from geographically. Most of the probate will be handled by fax, email, phone and postal mail, so you can hire which ever Collier probate lawyer is best for you.
The cost of attorneys is set forth 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.
Estates are very complex and just like snowflakes, no two are really the same. Every case is handled differently and thusly, the time it takes to close the probate will vary widely from one case to another. The time can be roughly estimated for non-taxable and taxable estates. A non-taxable estate that requires full administration takes six to twelve months to complete while one that requires only summary administration takes four to six weeks. A taxable estate takes approximately two years to complete the probate process as your Collier probate lawyer will have to wait for the IRS to sign off on the estate tax return before the probate can be closed.
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. Contact a Collier County Probate Lawyer today!
