Florida estate litigation attorney
A Florida estate litigation attorney is the lawyer you call when an inheritance stops moving — an executor who will not distribute, a trustee who will not account, a will that appeared in the last months of a life and changed everything. Estate litigation is the whole family of disputes over what a person left behind, and it is a different job from filing an uncontested estate.
Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. handles contested estates and trusts in all 67 Florida counties, in English and in Spanish — so the estate litigation lawyer you speak to first is the one who appears in court. The initial consultation is free.
Updated August 7, 2026. Every statute on this page was read against the current Florida Statutes this week. Two deadlines end more estate cases than every other rule combined: §733.212(3), 3 months from service of the notice of administration, and §736.1008, 6 months from receipt of a trust accounting.
What is estate litigation?
Estate litigation is any dispute about a deceased person’s property that a judge has to decide. Administration is paperwork filed with a clerk. Litigation begins when two people with standing disagree — about the document, about the money, or about the person controlling it.
An estate litigation lawyer handles all of the following, and in most real cases several at once. People search for an estate litigation attorney, estate litigation lawyers, or an estate litigation attorney near me and mean the same thing: someone who files, not someone who explains.
| The dispute | What is actually being fought over | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Will contest | Whether the will is valid at all | §732.5165 |
| Revocation of probate | A will already admitted, attacked before discharge | §733.109 |
| Removing the executor | Conduct after appointment | §733.504 |
| Breach of fiduciary duty | An executor or trustee serving themselves | §736.0802 |
| Trust contest | A trust or amendment procured by influence or fraud | §736.0406 |
| Compelling an accounting | A beneficiary kept in the dark | §736.0813 |
| Fee objections | What the estate is being charged | §733.6175 |
| Elective share | A surviving spouse’s statutory 30% | §732.2135 |
| Partition | Heirs who cannot agree what to do with a house | §733.814 |
| Inheritance disputes between siblings | Usually all of the above at once | — |
Estate litigation is not a claim that the split was unfair. It is a claim that a document is invalid, a deadline was missed, a duty was broken, or an asset is in the wrong hands.
How long does the executor have to pay the beneficiaries?
There is no fixed number of days, and that is exactly why this question is asked so often.
A personal representative may lawfully hold distribution open while:
- the 3-month creditor period runs after first publication under §733.702
- tax clearance is obtained
- real property is sold
- a contest or a claim is pending
What they may not do is hold it open for no reason. From the outside those two look identical, which is the entire problem.
The practical test is not time — it is explanation. A representative who can point to a creditor period, an unsold house or a pending objection is administering. One who cannot, and who has stopped answering, is not. When the delay has no answer, the remedies are a petition to compel, a petition for interim distribution, removal under §733.504, and surcharge for what the delay cost the estate.
⚠️ The deadline that runs against you. §733.901 states that discharge of the personal representative “shall release the personal representative and shall bar any action against the personal representative, as such or individually, and the surety.” Once discharge is entered, the claim is gone. Waiting quietly for a distribution while the estate closes is the single most expensive mistake a beneficiary makes.
What can an executor not do?
Quite a lot, and most families assume the opposite.
An executor cannot:
- Rewrite the will. No power exists to disinherit a beneficiary, reduce a share, or decide someone no longer deserves a bequest.
- Serve their own interests. A representative holding an interest adverse to the estate is removable under §733.504 with no allegation of dishonesty at all.
- Keep beneficiaries in the dark indefinitely. An interested person may petition to compel an accounting.
- Charge whatever they like. Compensation is reviewable, and under §733.6175 the burden of justifying it sits on them.
- Sell estate property to themselves without authority, court approval, or consent.
- Ignore a court order, which is its own ground for removal.
- Distribute before creditors are handled, and they can be held personally responsible if they do.
An executor can delay for lawful reasons, charge reasonable fees, sell assets, and dispute whether you are a beneficiary at all. Those are powers. They are not permission to treat the inheritance as theirs to allocate.
How long does an executor have to settle an estate in Florida?
A straightforward formal administration is expected to close in about a year, and the court will ask why if it does not. There is no statutory guillotine — §733.901 says only that “after administration has been completed, the personal representative shall be discharged.”
What actually extends an estate legitimately:
- a will contest or a petition to revoke probate
- creditor claims that must be objected to and litigated
- Florida real property that must be sold
- a closely held business, or assets in another state or country
- a surviving spouse’s elective share election
- an ancillary administration running in parallel
What extends it illegitimately is a representative who has stopped working, stopped communicating, or started spending. Both look the same from the outside for about six months — after that, they do not.
How much does it cost to contest a will?
It is priced by what the other side has to defend, not by the size of the estate.
Cheapest is a document defence where the evidence already exists on paper — an execution defect under §732.502 is close to arithmetic. Most expensive is a conduct defence with years of transactions to trace.
What drives the number:
- the volume of medical and financial records to obtain and read
- whether the §733.107(2) presumption of undue influence is available, which shifts the burden to the other side and shortens everything
- whether the fight is the will alone, the trust, lifetime transfers, or all three
- how many beneficiaries must be served, and how many are out of state or abroad
- whether fees are also contested, which adds a second track
- whether the executor is also a beneficiary, which fuses two disputes into one
Fees do not automatically come out of the estate. In some proceedings a court may direct that they do; in others each side pays their own. That question is worth answering at the first meeting, not the last.
What you will not find here is a prediction of your odds. Rule 4-7.13 prohibits promises about outcomes.
Is it worth contesting a will?
Sometimes plainly yes, often plainly no, and the honest answer usually arrives in the first meeting.
It is generally worth it when:
- the will or amendment was signed in the final year, during illness, and moved a large share to whoever was closest
- the favoured beneficiary arranged the lawyer, drove to the signing, or held the document afterwards — the facts that trigger the §733.107(2) presumption
- the execution was defective on its face
- there is an earlier will under which you did substantially better
- assets moved before death and never reached any document
It is generally not worth it when the complaint is that the division feels unfair, when the testator was demonstrably sharp at signing, or when the amount in dispute is smaller than the cost of proving it.
And frequently the better route is not a contest at all. A surviving spouse’s 30% elective share under §732.2065 requires no contest and no proof of wrongdoing. Price that first.
Can a beneficiary sue the executor, or sue the estate?
Yes to both, and they are different actions with different targets.
Suing the executor — for breach of duty, waste, self-dealing or failure to account. The remedies are removal under §733.504, surcharge to make the estate whole from the representative personally, and denial of compensation. This is the action that dies at discharge under §733.901.
Suing the estate — as a creditor, or on a claim the decedent could have been sued on. That runs on the creditor track: 3 months from first publication under §733.702, and an absolute outer bar of 2 years from the death under §733.710 that no court can waive or extend.
Suing the trustee — under §736.1001, where the court may compel an accounting, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend the trustee, reduce compensation, and void an act, impose a lien or constructive trust, or trace trust property wrongfully disposed of.
Confusing which one you are bringing costs the case, because each has its own clock.
Can siblings force the sale of inherited property?
Yes. One beneficiary can force it, over the objection of all the others.
§733.814 is the provision, and it is short:
“When two or more beneficiaries are entitled to distribution of undivided interests in any property, the personal representative or any beneficiary may petition the court before the estate is closed to partition the property in the same manner as provided by law for civil actions of partition. The court may direct the personal representative to sell any property that cannot be partitioned without prejudice to the owners and that cannot be allotted equitably and conveniently.”
Three things follow, and they surprise almost every family:
- Any single beneficiary can start it. Unanimity is not required, and neither is a good reason.
- A house cannot be physically divided, so in practice partition of a home means sale.
- It must be filed before the estate closes to run under this section.
This is the statute behind the most common inheritance dispute in Florida: three siblings inherit the family house, one wants to sell, two want to keep it. The one who wants to sell usually wins, because the court’s alternative — cutting a house into thirds — does not exist.
Can a life estate be contested?
Yes, on two entirely different theories, and they are frequently confused.
Attacking the document that created it. A life estate created by deed or will can be challenged on the same grounds as any other instrument — undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud, duress, or improper execution. If the deed was signed in the final months by someone who did not understand it, the life estate falls with it.
Attacking the conduct of the life tenant. The life tenant is entitled to possession and income for life. They are not entitled to destroy the remainder interest. A life tenant who fails to pay taxes or insurance, allows the property to deteriorate, or attempts to convey more than a life interest is committing waste, and the remainder beneficiaries can act while the life tenant is still alive.
The remainderman’s position is stronger than most realise. You do not have to wait until the life tenant dies to protect what is coming to you.
Does Florida have an inheritance tax?
No. Florida has no inheritance tax and no state estate tax. A beneficiary receiving an inheritance from a Florida estate owes no Florida tax on it, and inherited property is generally not income to the recipient for federal purposes either.
Three things that do still apply, and that matter in a contested estate:
- Federal estate tax applies only to very large estates, at the federal exemption. Most estates never reach it.
- Income generated after the death — rent, dividends, interest — is taxable to whoever receives it.
- An out-of-state decedent may still owe tax to their home state. Florida’s silence does not bind New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Massachusetts, and in an estate where domicile is disputed this becomes part of the fight.
A representative who claims the delay is “tax clearance” in an estate nowhere near the federal exemption is worth a follow-up question.
Estate litigation, probate litigation, trust litigation, will litigation — which do you need?
All four describe the same practice, and the search you typed does not change what gets filed.
- Estate litigation — the broadest term. Anything contested about what a person left behind.
- Probate litigation — that dispute when it runs through a probate case in a Florida circuit court.
- Trust litigation — the same work where the asset sits in a trust and the defendant is a trustee.
- Will litigation — the narrowest. The document itself: validity, meaning, revocation.
Most Florida matters are trust and estate litigation simultaneously, because the will is often a two-page pour-over instrument whose only function is to feed a revocable trust. Attack the will alone and you have attacked an empty envelope.
Do not let the label pick your lawyer. The evidence is the same in all four: the same medical records, the same bank statements, the same final year, the same witnesses.
Every deadline in Florida estate litigation
| Deadline | Period | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Objection after service of the notice of administration | 3 months | §733.212(3) |
| Petition to revoke probate | Before final discharge | §733.109 |
| Any action against the personal representative | Ends at discharge | §733.901 |
| Creditor claim after first publication | 3 months | §733.702 |
| Creditor claim, absolute bar | 2 years from death | §733.710 |
| Surviving spouse’s elective share | 6 months from notice, or 2 years from death, whichever is earlier | §732.2135 |
| Suing a trustee over a matter disclosed in an accounting | 6 months from receipt | §736.1008 |
| Contesting a revocable trust | Not until irrevocable or the settlor dies | §736.0207 |
| Partition for distribution | Before the estate closes | §733.814 |
| Depositing the original will | 10 days after learning of the death | §732.901 |
Inheritance disputes between siblings
The most common estate litigation in Florida is not a stranger contesting a will. It is siblings, and the pattern repeats:
- one child lived nearby and cared for the parent; the others did not
- that child was added to accounts or given a power of attorney “for convenience”
- a new will or trust amendment appeared in the last year or two
- after the death, that child is the personal representative and the largest beneficiary
None of those facts alone proves anything. The child who stayed often genuinely did more and was genuinely trusted. But together they are precisely the fact pattern that triggers the §733.107(2) presumption, and they are why an inheritance dispute lawyer looks first at the final year rather than at the will.
The questions that decide these cases: who arranged the lawyer · who was in the room · what the accounts did in the last twenty-four months · whether the caregiver child was already receiving compensation · and whether anyone else could reach the parent by phone.
What are the grounds to challenge a will or a trust?
A will — §732.5165: “A will is void if the execution is procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence.” Add lack of testamentary capacity, measured at the moment of signing, and improper execution under §732.502 — signature at the end, two attesting witnesses, all signing in one another’s presence.
A trust — §736.0406 uses almost identical language and reaches further: “If the creation, amendment, or restatement of a trust is procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence, the trust or any part so procured is void.”
Amendments and restatements are covered. The typical Florida case is not an attack on a twenty-year-old trust. It is an attack on the amendment signed weeks before the death.
Two structural points: only the procured part is void, so the rest of the instrument survives; and a procured revocation is also void, which can bring an earlier document back to life.
How do you prove undue influence?
Usually you do not prove it. You shift it.
§733.107(1) puts execution on the proponent and grounds on the challenger. Then subsection (2): where the presumption applies it shifts the burden of proof under ss. 90.301–90.304, “adopted to implement the public policy of this state against abuse of fiduciary or confidential relationships.”
When it fires, the favoured beneficiary must disprove undue influence.
It turns on three things — a confidential relationship, a substantial benefit, and active procurement: choosing the lawyer, being present at signing, knowing the terms in advance, instructing the drafter, arranging witnesses, keeping the document.
What to gather: medical records for the year around signing · who booked, drove, sat in and paid · bank and brokerage records showing new joint accounts, signature cards or powers of attorney · the drafting lawyer’s file · evidence of isolation · and the timing against any hospitalisation.
Breach of fiduciary duty by an executor or trustee
The duty is not to be nice. It is to be loyal.
§736.0802(1): “a trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.” Subsection (2) makes a transaction affected by a conflict “voidable by a beneficiary.” Subsection (3) presumes the conflict where the trustee deals with a spouse, a descendant, a sibling, a parent, or their spouses.
A trustee who sells the house to their own brother is presumed conflicted and the sale is voidable unless the trust authorised it, the court approved it, the beneficiary consented, or the beneficiary waited too long.
On the estate side the same conduct is removal under §733.504 plus surcharge — a personal money judgment against the representative to restore what the estate lost.
Where is estate litigation filed in Florida?
In the circuit court for the county where the estate belongs. The local filing and hearing rules differ enough to change how fast a case moves, so each county page below carries its own court address, filing traps and deadlines.
| County | Circuit | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | Eleventh | Miami probate litigation attorney |
| Broward | Seventeenth | Fort Lauderdale probate litigation attorney |
| Palm Beach (north) | Fifteenth | West Palm Beach probate litigation attorney |
| Palm Beach (south) | Fifteenth | Boca Raton probate litigation attorney |
| Hillsborough | Thirteenth | Tampa probate litigation attorney |
| Pinellas & Pasco | Sixth | Pinellas County probate litigation attorney |
Contested estates are handled in all 67 counties. Where venue itself is disputed — a decedent who split the year between Florida and somewhere else — §733.101 decides it, and that argument is made in the first weeks or not at all.
Does a no-contest clause stop you?
No. §732.517 is one sentence: a provision in a will penalising an interested person for contesting the will, or for bringing other proceedings relating to the estate, is unenforceable.
In terrorem clauses work in many other states, and Florida is full of wills drafted elsewhere by people who moved here later. In Florida they are void, in wills and in trusts alike. The paragraph may still sit in the document, reading as though it bites. It does not.
More people are stopped by that clause than by any deadline on this page — and it has no legal effect whatsoever.
What does “estate litigation specialist” mean in Florida?
It is a regulated term. The Florida Bar certifies in Wills, Trusts and Estates, and Rule 4-7.14 permits specialist or expert only where the claim is objectively verifiable — by that certification, or by the lawyer’s training, record and substantial involvement in the area.
What is verifiable here:
- Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Florida Bar No. 107002 — confirmable free through The Florida Bar’s member directory.
- Practice concentrated in probate, wills, trusts and the transfer of Florida real property.
- Solo practice: the person who answers the phone files the petition and appears at the hearing.
- Service in English and Spanish, in all 67 counties.
What you will not read here is that this is the best firm in Florida. Rule 4-7.13 prohibits unsupported comparisons.
What to do this week
If you were served with a notice of administration, §733.212(3) is running. If a trust accounting arrived, §736.1008 started the day you received it. If the estate is moving toward discharge, §733.901 is about to close the door on any claim against the executor.
Bring five things:
- The will and every trust document, including any amendment from the final two years.
- The notice of administration, and the date it was served on you — not the date of death, and not the date you heard about it.
- Every accounting and fee statement the estate has produced.
- Bank and brokerage statements for the last two years of life, if you can reach them.
- Anything showing who was near the decedent in the final year. That decides more cases than the will does.
Speak to a Florida estate litigation attorney directly — not an intake line, and not a referral to another estate litigation lawyer somewhere else. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. — (305) 224-6811. Free consultation in English or Spanish, statewide. You can also write from the contact page.
Related: Florida probate litigation lawyer · Florida trust litigation attorney · contesting a will in Florida. Esta página en español: impugnar un testamento en Florida.
About this page. Author and reviewer: Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr., Florida Bar No. 107002. Every statute cited was read against the Florida Statutes on August 7, 2026.
This page offers general information about Florida law and is not legal advice for a specific case. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every estate turns on its own facts, and the law changes.