Upon an individual’s death, someone may file their Last Will and Testament document and petition for estate administration with the Florida probate court. From here, the court may appoint you to administer the estate if you were listed as the designated executor in the will document. Then, your first initiative should be to inform all interested parties of the upcoming distribution process. Without further ado, please read to discover who is entitled to receive a notice of administration and how a seasoned Broward County estate administration lawyer at The Probate Lawyers can help you execute this task correctly.
Who is supposed to receive a notice of administration?
You may send a notice of administration via personal service or first-class mail. Either way, you must primarily deliver it to the designated beneficiaries named in the decedent’s Last Will and Testament document. Importantly, if one of these beneficiaries is under the legal adult age of 18 years, then you may give this notice to their parent or legal guardian. If this is the minor child of the deceased, sadly, this must be given to their newly appointed legal guardian as directed in the will document.
Of note, if the decedent established a revocable living trust alongside a will document, you must inform the selected trustee about their recent passing. Then, you must notify the designated beneficiary of their anticipated inheritance of this trust’s funds.
However, if the decedent passed without a valid and enforceable will document, you must carry out your notice of administration based on Florida’s intestate laws. Namely, these laws establish the specific order in which close relatives should inherit the estate. The hierarchy for this is generally surviving spouse, children, parents, and then siblings.
Should a decedent’s creditors also receive a notice?
It is more common than you may realize for individuals to die without outstanding debts and taxes. With this, as the executor of an estate, you may be equally responsible for a service of notice to creditors, generally within 30 days of the decedent’s date of death. In addition, you may be expected to produce a publication of notice to creditors within three months. In turn, this must be left published publicly for two consecutive weeks, typically in a local newspaper or online on a newspaper’s website.
With these notices, you essentially announce to the decedent’s creditors that they have died and that their estate has been opened. This allows them to file their claims against the estate within the allotted timeframe. And if they do, you must respond by paying them back using the property and assets that the decedent left behind. Or, you may object to their claims if you believe they are invalid. You must understand, though, that this may prompt creditors to take separate legal action, and you may be expected to defend on the estate’s behalf.
We understand that you must be eager to start this process. So, without further delay, please schedule your initial consultation with a competent Broward County estate administration lawyer from The Probate Lawyers today.
