Estate Planning

Are Fees Charged on the Value of a Home in a Florida Probate?

By David M. Goldman

In Florida, the question of whether an attorney should charge fees based on the value of the home or land is a common one. The answer to this question depends on whether the Home is considered a homestead. A Florida Homestead is a constitutionally protected piece of property which is exempt from being counted as an asset of the decedent in a Florida Probate. If the home is a Florida Homestead, the fees for transferring the property to the decedents must be reasonable and unless the home a very small value it would be unreasonable to charge 3% of the homes value to transfer the property. In all Florida probate cases a lawyers fees must be reasonable. When a home is considered a homestead, the lawyer must file a petition to determine homestead, publish notice to the creditors, and if there are no objections, file a PR deed to transfer the property.

If you are a creditor or a beneficiary of a Florida Probate and think that the fees in the Probate are unreasonable Contact us and we can review the fees and the court file to determine if you are being treated reasonably. When fees are higher than necessary, we can often resolve the dispute with a letter and a few conversations. Sometimes the issues are more complex and it becomes necessary to attend a hearing in the probate court to present evidence or dispute the fees. When this happens a Judge will make the determination of whether the PR fees and the Legal fees are reasonable.

Full post as published by Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).