Orlando Probate Litigation Attorney

At a glance: contested estates in Orlando and Orange County

What is the difference between probate litigation and probate administration?

Probate administration is the court-supervised process of opening an estate, collecting assets, paying valid claims and distributing what remains. Probate litigation is what happens when someone objects, petitions or sues inside or around that process. The same estate can be in both at once: administration generally continues while a will contest is pending, subject to limits on distribution (§ 733.109(2)), which is also how to contest a will after probate has opened: inside the same case. Does Florida use executor or personal representative? Personal representative, for an executor named in a will and an administrator appointed without one alike; this page uses both terms because people search for both.

This page describes contested representation. If the family needs an estate administered without a dispute, start with Orlando probate administration. If you want to prepare or update your own documents, see Orlando estate planning. Planning, administration and contested representation are separate engagements.

What does an Orlando probate litigation attorney do?

What does an estate litigator do that an administration lawyer does not? The contested work in the short answer above, from the first demand letter to trial and appeal. People arrive at this work calling it different things. Some search for an Orlando probate dispute attorney, some for an Orlando contested will attorney or an Orlando will dispute attorney, some for an Orlando estate litigation attorney or an Orlando trust litigation attorney. The table matches each term to what it usually means and where this page answers it.

Searches for a probate litigation law firm, for probate litigation attorneys near me, or for probate litigation lawyers near Orlando can return both solo practices and multi-attorney firms. Lorenzo Law is a solo practice. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. handles both sides of these matters. Representation may mean bringing a challenge or defending one, subject to a conflicts review, and the lawyer for a personal representative does not automatically represent every beneficiary. Relatives with conflicting interests may need separate counsel: an executor defending an accounting and a beneficiary attacking that accounting should not assume one lawyer can advise both. The firm identifies whom it would represent and the proposed scope before any engagement.

Back to guide sections

Which role are you in, and what is the dispute?

See the chart “Which dispute is it? Nine situations and the route each one takes”

The table identifies review paths, not an automatic entitlement to sue. An interested person’s rights depend on the particular proceeding under § 731.201. Bring the document that explains your interest: a prior will, a beneficiary provision, a family relationship, a creditor claim or a fiduciary appointment.

Back to guide sections

Which notice did you receive, and what should you check first?

See the chart “Which notice did you receive? What each one starts”

This is a review aid for contesting probate time limits, not an exhaustive deadline calendar. A notice of administration (Florida probate form or a lawyer-drafted version) is read for its contents and its service, not its layout. Record when and how each document arrived; the printed date is not the service or receipt date. The envelope, the email header and the proof of service are evidence.

How long do you have to contest a will in Florida?

For an interested person served with a notice of administration, the time to contest a will is three months after service, and three months is not 90 days. Section 733.212, the will contest Florida statute that governs most cases, uses three calendar months: objections are due on or before “the date that is 3 months after the date of service,” and three calendar months is not the same as 90 days, because a month may have 28, 29, 30 or 31 days. Do not replace the period with 90 days, do not diary it as “3 months” from the date you heard about the death, and do not use a generalized example as your filing date. People search for the statute of limitations to contest a will in Florida, or the will contest period Florida uses; for a served interested person this is it, and it is measured from service, not from death. Counsel should check the legal service date, any filed waiver, the pleading required and any earlier bar before a date is diaried. Where the filing is close to the end of the period, the safe course is to file early rather than to argue about computation later. How long can you contest a will in Florida if you were never served at all? The answer then depends on the case history, including whether formal notice was served, whether the personal representative has been discharged and whether any other bar applies, so see challenging a will once the estate is open.

Can a will be contested after probate has started? Yes, within the periods in the notice table, and revocation of probate remains available while the estate is open and no earlier bar applies (see challenging a will once the estate is open). Once a will is admitted to probate, § 733.103(2) makes that admission conclusive, in any collateral action or proceeding relating to devised property, of the will’s due execution, that it was executed by a competent testator free of fraud, duress, mistake and undue influence, and that the will was unrevoked on the testator’s death. That is why contesting a will after probate has started means bringing the challenge inside the probate case and inside the statutory window, rather than in a later separate lawsuit.

Can a will still be challenged if the estate is open, or after probate?

Can you contest a will after probate has begun? Timing decides it, and an open estate alone does not establish that a challenge remains timely. Section 733.109 allows an interested person, expressly including a beneficiary under a prior will, to petition to revoke probate before the personal representative’s final discharge, but only if the person is not already barred under § 733.212 or § 733.2123. Once the personal representative has been discharged, that route is closed. “After probate is closed” is therefore the wrong frame; the questions are whether the estate is still open and whether an earlier bar already applies. Can a will be contested after distribution? Can you contest a will years later? Only where no earlier bar applies and a route remains open, which after a final discharge is rarely the case.

What happens if you miss the deadline to contest a will? The objection is generally barred. If you were never served, signed a waiver, or discovered a later will, counsel must evaluate those facts and the existing orders. None of them is an automatic exception, and none should be treated as a workaround for a missed period. While a revocation proceeding is pending, administration continues as if it had not been filed, except that no distribution may be made in contravention of the rights of those who would take if the will were revoked, and the statute protects a good-faith purchaser for value who bought estate property from the personal representative before any order of revocation. If a distribution or sale is pending, identify the asset and the proposed date so counsel can assess the available relief.

Waivers, consents and releases

If you signed a waiver, a consent or a release, bring the exact signed document, the petition it concerns and any filing or service evidence. A waiver of notice, a consent to specific relief and a receipt, release and waiver signed at distribution have different effects. Waiving notice does not preserve the same opportunity to object later: § 733.212(8) treats a filed waiver of service as service on the date of filing, and § 733.2123 expressly includes waived formal notice in its pre-letters rule. What a receipt, release and waiver signed at distribution does depends on its wording and the circumstances; a signed waiver and receipt does not by itself take the place of the court’s order discharging the personal representative, and even a discharge does not bar a claim for fraud by concealment. Do not assume that a document labeled “waiver” was harmless, or that it eliminated every possible claim.

Back to guide sections

What should you bring to the consultation?

• Notice packet: the Florida notice of administration form or formal notice, with every page and attachment, the envelope, the email header, delivery confirmation, proof of service and any signed waiver. Record when and how each document arrived.
• Case identity: the decedent’s full legal name, date of death, county, case number, assigned division (shown on the Orange County Clerk probate docket for an Orlando estate), letters of administration, orders and upcoming hearing notices.
• Disputed documents: all available versions of wills, codicils, trusts, amendments, deeds, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations. Keep originals intact.
• Money and property: inventory, accountings, bank or brokerage statements you lawfully possess, invoices, sale contracts, closing statements and records of distributions.
• People and chronology: the names of witnesses, the drafting lawyer, caregivers and relevant institutions; the dates of signing, hospital stays, changes in contact and transactions. Separate what you observed from what someone told you.
• Incomplete files: bring the items above in whatever state they are in; the firm would rather see an incomplete file now than a complete one after a period has run.
• Your objective: in any dispute over inheritance, whether you want information, protection of an asset, a corrected accounting, replacement of a fiduciary, recognition of a different instrument, a negotiated resolution or a defense to allegations.

Orlando probate records that are not viewable online can be requested from the Clerk. For the initial inquiry, give a brief description of the dispute and identify urgent dates. Ask how to share sensitive documents before sending medical records or full financial statements. Preserve messages in their original form, including attachments and dates. Counsel can evaluate requests, subpoenas and preservation steps for records you do not possess, including facility visitor logs, nursing notes and medication records, which are often decisive and are not kept indefinitely.

Back to guide sections

Orlando contested will attorney: challenging or defending a will

For the statewide service, see the Florida will contest attorney page; for the broader legal framework, see the guide on how to contest a will in Florida. The steps to contest a will start with standing, grounds and timing; this section covers what matters when challenging a will in Florida through an Orange County estate.

Who can contest a will in Florida?

The rights to contest a will belong to an interested person: someone who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding (§ 731.201). In practice that means a beneficiary under the challenged will, a beneficiary under a prior will, an intestate heir who would inherit if the will fell, a surviving spouse, or a creditor as to matters affecting the claim. The status is measured proceeding by proceeding, not once for the whole case: a person can be an interested person for one petition and not another. Standing is the first thing opposing counsel will attack, so it is confirmed before anything is filed.

Can anyone contest a will? No. Can family members contest a will simply because they are family? Also no. A relationship matters only through an inheritance it would produce, under a prior will or by intestacy, and the positions people most often ask about are summarized below.

How hard is it to contest a will in Florida?

Knowing how to challenge a will does not make it easy: it depends on the evidence, not on the strength of the feeling. A properly executed, self-proved will signed by a person with capacity and prepared by an independent attorney is difficult to overturn, and the law intends it to be. A late change benefiting the person who arranged the signing, with contemporaneous medical records to match, is a different case. Capacity is presumed, and the burden of invalidating a will for lack of capacity is a heavy one. How hard is it to prove undue influence in a will? Without the presumption, very; the undue influence presumption, discussed under undue influence, is the one structural advantage the law gives a challenger. The deadline question comes before any of this: a person served with a notice of administration more than three months ago, or served with formal notice before letters issued, may have no contest left to bring. Can you contest a will without a lawyer? Contesting a will without an attorney is permitted for an individual, but a self-represented party is held to the same deadlines, rules of procedure and rules of evidence as a represented one, so learning how to contest a will without a lawyer means learning the deadlines, the probate rules and the evidence code at once.

What are the grounds to contest a will?

The grounds for challenging a will in Florida are limited to those below; overturning a will requires evidence tied to the signing or the revocation.

Can a will be overturned because the result seems unfair? No. What voids a will in Florida is, in every case, a recognized ground proved with evidence, and that ground is the only basis for contesting a will. Two points about § 732.5165, the will contest Florida statute on fraud, duress, mistake and undue influence, are often missed. It includes mistake alongside fraud, duress and undue influence, and it is severable: the part of a will procured by those means is void while the remainder, if otherwise valid, stands. A challenge can therefore target a single devise. The section also voids a revocation procured by those means, which is the mechanism by which a prior will can be restored, but invalidating one instrument does not automatically prove that a particular earlier will governs. Each instrument and each revocation has to be evaluated.

Can someone with dementia sign a valid will?

Yes. A diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease alone does not decide testamentary capacity. The question is the testator’s understanding at the moment of execution: in a general way, the nature and extent of the property, the people who would naturally claim a benefit, and the practical effect of the will being signed. Florida courts have stated the test in those terms, and testamentary capacity is generally regarded as a lower threshold than the capacity needed to sign a deed or contract or to manage complex finances. Capacity is presumed, and the challenger carries a heavy burden to prove its absence. Contesting a will due to mental capacity therefore requires proof about the day of signing, not about the illness in general.

A person with a fluctuating condition may execute a valid will during a lucid interval, and that is the standard defense to a capacity challenge: the proponent argues the will was signed during such a window. Where the testator had already been adjudicated incapacitated, the will’s proponent must show it was signed during a lucid interval, a period in which the testator returned to a state of comprehension and had actual testamentary capacity, not merely a moment free of apparent delusion. Evidence of incapacity on other occasions, such as a diagnosis or hospitalization, does not by itself create a presumption of incapacity at execution; a prior adjudication of incapacity is stronger, because it creates a rebuttable presumption of lack of testamentary capacity and shifts the burden of going forward to the proponent, but even that presumption can be rebutted by proof of a lucid interval. The right to make a will is not among the rights a court may remove, or remove and delegate to a guardian, under § 744.3215(2) and (3).

Contesting a will due to dementia is therefore built on contemporaneous records: physician notes, cognitive assessments, hospital and facility records, medication lists, the drafting attorney’s file and the attesting witnesses, all read against the execution date. For a will signed in a hospital or care facility, note the signing date and time, the people present and which institution holds the records, and ask counsel about lawful access and preservation. No diagnosis, location or proximity to death decides the case by itself, in either direction.

How do you prove undue influence in Florida?

When contesting a will in Florida, undue influence is rarely proved directly, because the conduct happens behind closed doors. What is actual undue influence? Pressure amounting to over-persuasion, duress or coercion that destroys the testator’s free agency; closeness, caregiving and ordinary persuasion are not enough. There is no separate statute of limitations for an undue influence will contest; the claim is raised within the periods that serve as the Florida will contest statute of limitations, described in the notice section, which is why the search for an Orlando undue influence attorney usually begins with the notice of administration rather than the evidence. The usual route is to establish three elements that raise a presumption: a person who is a substantial beneficiary under the will, who occupied a confidential relationship with the decedent, and who was active in procuring the will. A confidential relationship is one of trust and dependence and is not limited to formal fiduciaries; courts have found it, for example, in a paid caregiver who was also the decedent’s attorney in fact and health care surrogate. Active procurement concerns the making of the will, not simply a person’s presence in the decedent’s life, and the factors associated with In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1971), guide that inquiry.

What are the Carpenter factors?

The Florida undue influence Carpenter factors are the circumstances the Florida Supreme Court identified as indicating active procurement. None decides a case alone; the table lists them with the form each usually takes, and an undue influence lawyer on either side works through them one by one.

The undue influence factors Florida courts use are not exclusive and not a checklist on which one checked box decides a case; assistance with transportation, closeness to a parent or an unequal inheritance needs context, and courts also weigh isolation of the decedent, control over finances and medical care, and the degree to which the new plan departs from a long-established one. The same records may support or undermine a challenge, and the examples of undue influence in families that reach court usually combine several of these circumstances rather than one.

Who has the burden of proof once the presumption arises?

The will’s proponent. The presumption of undue influence Florida applies is governed by statute: section 733.107(2) provides that the presumption implements public policy against abuse of fiduciary or confidential relationships and is therefore a presumption shifting the burden of proof under the Evidence Code. Once the three elements are established, the will’s proponent must prove the absence of undue influence by the greater weight of the evidence; the presumption does not simply vanish when an explanation is offered. Among reported undue influence court cases, the Fifth District explained in Hack v. Janes, 878 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), that the 2002 amendment supersedes Carpenter to the extent it prohibited shifting the burden of proof, while the parts of Carpenter explaining when the presumption arises remain good law. Describing the presumption as rebuttable is not wrong; what matters is which burden shifts and what the evidence establishes.

If you are defending a will, or working out how to fight a contested will as its beneficiary, expect lawyers that contest wills to test every step of the signing; the proof that works is affirmative: independent counsel the decedent selected and met with alone, a contemporaneous physician’s assessment, a drafting file that records the decedent’s own reasons, a plan consistent with statements made to others over time, and a documented reason for treating children differently. Gather communications with the drafting lawyer, calendars, witness identities and signing records on either side; if isolation is alleged, identify actual calls, visits, messages and restrictions rather than relying on a general impression.

If you are accused of undue influence

If you have been falsely accused, defending a will contest starts with the same records that lawyers challenging a will ask for first. Preserve every version of the documents and the surrounding communications, including material that appears unfavorable, and identify the neutral witnesses: the drafting attorney, the physician, the facility staff. Write down the sequence of events while it is fresh. Do not contact witnesses to coordinate accounts, do not reorganize or destroy anything, and do not try to explain the matter directly to the other beneficiaries. Because the burden can shift to you once the three elements are established, a defense built late is a defense built badly. The firm evaluates the defense of a will as well as its challenge, subject to conflicts and the engagement’s scope; a beneficiary accused of procurement and the personal representative administering the will may have different interests. Is undue influence a crime? Not by itself: it is a civil ground for setting aside a will or transfer, although the same conduct can amount to exploitation of an elderly person under § 825.103.

What if the original will is missing or there are several versions?

A lost will is its own proceeding. A copy does not automatically establish the operative will, and a missing original does not by itself end the analysis. To establish a lost will, Florida law (which treats a destroyed will the same way) requires proof of its contents and due execution under § 733.207 and the applicable probate rules, in an adversary proceeding, and the proponent must overcome the presumption that a will last known to be in the testator’s possession and not found at death was revoked by the testator. Custody of the original, who had access to it, the circumstances of its disappearance and evidence of what the decedent said about it are what carry or defeat the case. Where several wills or codicils exist, the sequence of execution and revocation decides which instrument, or which parts, govern. Preserve copies, drafts and communications about where the original was kept.

Is a no-contest clause enforceable in Florida?

No. On the no-contest clause, Florida law is direct: the clause, also called an in terrorem clause, is unenforceable. Section 732.517 makes a provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate unenforceable, and § 736.1108 does the same for trusts, with an applicability provision tied to when the trust was created and a rule that a revocable trust is treated as created when the right of revocation terminates. Florida has no probable-cause exception: the clause is unenforceable even against a contestant who turns out to have had no good reason. A clause drafted as an alternative benefit rather than a penalty has to be read closely, so have the actual clause and the governing law reviewed. A no contest clause in Florida, being unenforceable, does not remove standing requirements, deadlines, litigation expense or the fee exposure discussed under fees and costs.

Back to guide sections

Orlando trust litigation attorney: trust validity and trustee conduct

What does a trust litigation attorney do with a new file? A trust contest lawyer, or the same lawyer defending a trustee, first separates validity, conduct and information requests, reads the complete instrument history against the accountings and distributions, and then decides how to contest a trust or defend it, usually by complaint in the circuit court.

Can you contest a trust in Florida?

Yes. The grounds for contesting a trust parallel a will contest: lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake and defective execution, applied to the trust or to a particular amendment or restatement, whether the trust is described as revocable or irrevocable. Can a trust be contested after death? Yes; a trust that was revocable during the settlor’s life is generally contested after the settlor dies, within the trust periods described in this answer. Contesting a trust in Florida is a separate action from contesting a will even when the same conduct is alleged, and a dispute between a successor trustee and the beneficiaries, or between co-trustees, is a conduct claim rather than a validity claim. Trust proceedings generally use a complaint and the Rules of Civil Procedure under § 736.0201, with statutory exceptions, and the limitation rules are the trust’s own: for a trust that was revocable at the settlor’s death, the validity deadline is the earlier of the applicable chapter 95 period or six months after the trustee sent the instrument and the required notice (§ 736.0604). Irrevocability (by the trust’s terms or the settlor’s death) generally determines when a validity contest may begin (§ 736.0207); it does not itself start a limitation period. A surviving spouse may face a different question altogether: a Florida elective share irrevocable trust review asks whether trust property counts toward the elective estate, which is not a contest of the trust at all. Whether you sue “the trust” or the trustee depends on the claim: a validity challenge is directed at the instrument and the people who take under it; a claim about administration is a claim against the trustee in that capacity, and sometimes personally. Bring the entire trust, every amendment, the notices and the accountings. A summary or certificate of trust may leave out the disputed provision. The Florida trust litigation attorney page covers the detailed service and the remedies.

What if the trustee will not provide an accounting?

A trustee has information duties to qualified beneficiaries under § 736.0813, subject to the statute’s qualifiers about who is entitled to what and when. An unanswered request justifies a written demand that identifies the information sought; continued refusal supports a petition to compel an accounting, and the accounting itself may support further relief, including trustee removal, a surcharge against the trustee, an injunction or a constructive trust over property that can be traced, or a claim for breach of trust. Two limitation points matter here. A trust disclosure document can start a six-month bar on adequately disclosed matters under § 736.1008, running from the later receipt of the disclosure or the limitation notice, and other limitation and repose provisions can apply even when no limitation notice was ever sent. Receiving an accounting, therefore, is itself a date to record. A trustee being accused of withholding information, or of favoring one beneficiary, has the same interest in a prompt, documented response.

How to remove a trustee in Florida is set out in § 736.0706: the settlor, a cotrustee or a beneficiary may ask the court, or the court may act on its own initiative, and the grounds are a serious breach of trust; a lack of cooperation among cotrustees that substantially impairs administration; unfitness, unwillingness or persistent failure to administer the trust effectively, where removal best serves the beneficiaries’ interests; or a substantial change of circumstances or a request by all qualified beneficiaries, where removal best serves the interests of all beneficiaries, is not inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust and a suitable cotrustee or successor trustee is available. How difficult is it to remove a trustee? It depends on proof of one of those grounds; disagreement with a trustee’s discretionary decisions is not enough. Can a trustee be held personally liable in Florida? Yes, for a breach of trust, through surcharge or damages under § 736.1002; liability to outsiders is governed separately by § 736.1013.

Back to guide sections

Personal representative disputes: information, removal and surcharge

The rows above are examples of executor misconduct that justify a closer look, not proof of it. They also mark what an executor cannot do in Florida: treat estate property as their own, favor themselves or a relative without disclosure, or ignore court orders. Much of what an Orlando fiduciary litigation attorney does in these matters is documentary: matching each accounting entry to a statement, invoice, order or closing file, and identifying the entries that have nothing behind them.

Can the personal representative be removed?

Yes. A search for “remove personal representative Florida” is answered by the grounds in § 733.504, and the statute draws a distinction that matters. A personal representative who was not qualified to act at the time of appointment shall be removed; removal on the listed causes is discretionary. Those causes include adjudication of incapacity, physical or mental incapacity that leaves the representative unable to discharge his or her duties, failure to comply with a court order not superseded on appeal, failure to account for the sale of property or to produce and exhibit estate assets when required, wasting or maladministering the estate, failure to give bond or security, conviction of a felony, insolvency of a corporate representative, holding or acquiring conflicting or adverse interests against the estate that will or may interfere with administration of the estate as a whole, revocation of the probate of the will that authorized the appointment, removal of domicile from Florida where domicile was a requirement, and loss of entitlement to the appointment. The conflict ground does not reach a surviving spouse merely because the spouse exercised the elective share, family allowance or exemptions.

The grounds for removing an executor do not include dislike: removal is not automatic because beneficiaries dislike the representative or disagree with a decision, and initial qualification and appointment priority are different questions from later removal for conduct. Can beneficiaries remove an executor on their own? No. The court removes, on a petition to remove executor or administrator filed as an adversary proceeding that identifies the precise ground and its proof; that is how to remove a personal representative in Florida. If the fiduciary is also a beneficiary, counsel examines each capacity rather than treating every disagreement as self-dealing.

Co-executors, resignation and what happens after removal

Knowing how to remove an executor is only half the question; what follows removal matters as much. Can a co-executor be removed? Yes. Can an executor remove another executor? Not alone; a co-representative must petition the court like any other interested person. Can an administrator of an estate be removed? Yes, on the same grounds as an executor named in a will. One of several personal representatives can be removed on the statutory grounds without removing the others, and the court decides whether the remaining representative continues alone or a successor is appointed.

What happens when an executor is removed? The removed personal representative must file and serve a final accounting of the administration (§ 733.508) and immediately deliver the estate’s assets, records and other property to the remaining personal representative or successor fiduciary (§ 733.509); removal does not exonerate the removed representative or the surety from liability (§ 733.506).

Can a personal representative step down? Yes, by petitioning the court to resign. After notice to all interested persons, the court may accept the resignation and revoke the letters if the estate’s interests are not jeopardized; the resigning representative must then surrender the estate’s assets and records to the successor and file a final accounting before being discharged, and acceptance does not end the representative’s liability (§§ 733.502, 733.5035, 733.5036).

What is a surcharge action?

What a search for “suing executor for breach of fiduciary duty” describes is, in a Florida estate, usually a surcharge petition against the personal representative within the probate case. Surcharge seeks to hold a fiduciary financially responsible for a proven breach and the resulting loss. It differs from removal: removal addresses who continues to serve; surcharge addresses the harm. For a claim of personal representative breach of fiduciary duty, Florida sets the standard in section 733.609. That section holds the personal representative to the duty of a trustee of an express trust, makes the representative liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from a breach of that duty, and contains a costs and attorney’s-fees provision for proceedings concerning the representative’s powers or breach, which may be satisfied from the party’s interest in the estate, from other property, or both. Entitlement, the reasonable amount and the source of payment require analysis, and the exposure can run in more than one direction. Bring the records of the challenged payments or transfers, the accounting, any authorization and the evidence of loss; market changes, legitimate administration expenses and an actual breach have to be distinguished, and the amount someone hoped to inherit is not necessarily the measure of damages.

What can you do if the executor is not distributing the estate or not communicating?

Florida calls the role personal representative, and an executor not distributing estate assets as quickly as the family expected has not, for that reason alone, breached a duty: the creditor period, tax matters and the sale of real property legitimately take time. How long does an executor have to settle an estate in Florida? There is no single statutory date by which an estate must close. Delay coupled with no accounting, no communication or use of estate assets is a different matter, and that difference is the answer to a search such as “if executor does not distribute estate”: the remedy depends on what accompanies the delay. The usual sequence, and in practice how to remove an executor who will not act, is a written demand that asks specifically for the inventory and a full accounting, then a petition to compel, then removal and surcharge if the conduct continues. The written demand does two things: it often produces the documents, and if it does not, it builds the record for the petition and for any later fee request. What is a beneficiary entitled to see? Generally the notice of administration and a copy of the will, the inventory, the accountings showing receipts, disbursements, distributions and fees, and the petition for discharge and plan of distribution; failure to produce records when required is itself a removal ground.

How do you object to an estate accounting, and how long do you have?

For a final accounting or petition for discharge, Rule 5.401 requires the objection within 30 days after service of the later of the two documents, states that it must identify the items and grounds with particularity, and requires service of the objection on the personal representative and interested persons within that same period. Filing alone is not the entire procedure. Filing the objection is also not the end of it: if a notice of hearing on the objections is not served within 90 days after they are filed, the objections are deemed abandoned and the personal representative may distribute under the plan. The 90 days measures service of the notice of hearing, not the hearing date, so a hearing set beyond the 90 days is fine as long as the notice went out inside it. An objection filed and left to sit is worth nothing; once objections are properly before the court, the court rules on each one and determines the plan of distribution.

Where the problem is an executor not providing accounting, Florida procedure starts one step earlier, with the written demand and petition to compel described under an executor who is not distributing; the objection rules apply once an accounting has been served. An accounting objection is not a will contest. A will contest addresses an instrument’s validity; an accounting objection addresses identified entries, transactions or a proposed distribution, and contesting estate distribution is done through that objection rather than a will contest. Can a beneficiary challenge an executor without challenging the will? Yes: it is possible to accept the will while disputing the accounting. Interim accountings, other reports and trust accountings have their own rules; do not apply the final-probate-accounting procedure to every financial report.

Can you sue a sibling who spent a parent’s money under a power of attorney?

Often. Durable power of attorney abuse (POA abuse, in the usual shorthand), the claim against an agent whose authority continued through the principal’s incapacity, is frequently worth more than the will contest, but separate abuse of power of attorney before death from what happened afterward, because the claims and the proper plaintiff differ. Before death, an agent’s misuse of power of attorney for the agent’s own benefit may support claims for breach of fiduciary duty and conversion, as well as liability under § 709.2117 to restore the value of the principal’s property, and power of attorney fraud of that kind may also constitute exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult. The penalty for abuse of power of attorney can be civil as well as criminal: Florida provides civil remedies for exploitation in addition to criminal penalties: § 772.11 allows a civil action for threefold the actual damages, with a statutory minimum and attorney’s fees, for injury by a violation of § 825.103(1), subject to its own proof standard and a pre-suit demand requirement, and § 415.1111 gives a vulnerable adult, or the personal representative of a deceased victim’s estate, a cause of action for actual and punitive damages, with reasonable attorney’s fees and costs available to a prevailing party. Enhanced damages are not an automatic penalty payable to an heir; each remedy has its own elements and procedure. Section 709.2109 also protects an agent who acted in good faith without knowledge of the principal’s death, so timing and the agent’s knowledge matter.

After death, the same person may face breach of fiduciary duty, surcharge and removal as personal representative. An inheritance expectation does not by itself authorize an individual beneficiary to pursue the estate’s claim; the personal representative normally brings it, and if the personal representative is the sibling, the route is removal or the appointment of an administrator ad litem, and in some circumstances a curator or a guardian ad litem is appointed to act for the estate or for a person who cannot act for themselves. Proving power of attorney abuse starts with the instrument granting authority and the actual transfers, so preserve both before confronting anyone, because accounts get closed and documents disappear. Forged documents, concealed assets or a false inventory are sometimes called probate fraud. Florida treats each by its own route: a will contest or revocation for a forged or procured will, surcharge and removal for a fiduciary, and civil theft or exploitation claims for money taken. What is the penalty for stealing from an estate in Florida? Civilly, surcharge, removal and, where the elements and the pre-suit demand are met, threefold damages under § 772.11; criminally, a theft charge, which is a decision for the State Attorney. Charging decisions belong to the State Attorney; the civil remedies are what an Orlando breach of fiduciary duty attorney pursues.

Back to guide sections

Can a Lady Bird deed, beneficiary designation or joint account be challenged?

The grounds overlap with a will contest: lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery, lack of authority in the agent who signed, and defective execution of the deed or form. The evidence is different, and an inheritance litigation attorney works from the instrument itself. For a deed, obtain the recorded instrument and the prior deed from the Orange County Comptroller’s Official Records, identify the grantor and grantee, note whether an agent signed and under what power, and compare the execution date, recording date, legal description and consideration. Recording identifies a document in the public records; it does not adjudicate its validity. For an account or designation, the institution’s change-of-beneficiary form, the signature card and the date of the change against the medical timeline are what matter. Because a successful will contest does not undo these transactions, a family dispute often has to be pleaded as several claims in more than one court. For a surviving spouse, several of these same transfers may count toward the Florida spousal elective share even though they passed outside the will. See Florida deed contests, whether a Lady Bird deed can be contested and the Florida estate litigation overview for the cross-asset framework. A suspected forgery is the situation in which people look for an Orange County fraudulent deeds lawyer; the analysis starts with the notary block, the witnesses and the recording history.

Wills, trusts, deeds and accounts: what can be contested

Because each instrument is challenged on its own terms, the same question comes up again and again in different forms. The table gives the short answer for each.

Back to guide sections

What happens when a sibling lives in the inherited house and will not sell?

Preserve the deed, the probate orders, the ownership shares, the mortgage information and the records of payments and occupancy; the accounting between co-owners is often where the real money is. If the house was the decedent’s homestead, Florida homestead inheritance rules, described under homestead, decide who owns it before any partition question arises. Before selling an inherited house, Orlando co-owners should confirm that title has actually vested and that no estate claim remains against it. A buyout or negotiated sale resolves many inheritance disputes between siblings without a lawsuit. The Florida partition action page explains the process, including the protections that can apply to heirs property, and the siblings-and-the-family-home guide covers the decisions that come before filing. Partition ordinarily follows the land under § 64.022, so an Orlando house is partitioned in Orange County regardless of where the co-owners live, and an Orlando partition attorney files it there.

Back to guide sections

What are a surviving spouse’s rights if the will leaves them little or nothing?

The elective share Florida law provides is 30 percent of the elective estate under § 732.2065, and the elective estate is not the probate estate: § 732.2035 reaches payable-on-death, transfer-on-death and “in trust for” accounts, fractional interests in joint and entireties property, revocable trust property, the net cash surrender value of life insurance and specified retirement benefits, among other categories. A spouse told that “there is nothing in the estate” because everything passed by trust or beneficiary designation is frequently being misinformed; in a Florida elective share revocable trust dispute, the trust property is counted even though it never passed through probate. The election is generally due within the earlier of six months after service of the notice of administration on the spouse or two years after death under § 732.2135, with extension and tolling provisions that require their own review, so bring the notice and proof of service even if the immediate concern is the house. Can a prenup waive elective share rights? Yes, by a written agreement that meets the statutory requirements, and the litigation over a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is usually about validity, disclosure and whether its language reaches the right being asserted; unless the agreement provides otherwise, a waiver of “all rights,” or equivalent language, waives every spousal right listed in § 732.702, including homestead, so the exact wording matters. The Florida elective share page covers the election, the valuation, the worksheet; for an elective share trust, Florida law sets the credit by statute (§ 732.2095). Property left to the spouse in a qualifying “elective share trust” does not always count dollar-for-dollar. It is credited toward the elective share at a set percentage of the trust’s principal — 100%, 80%, or 50% — depending on the powers the trust gives the spouse, so the trust’s terms directly affect how much credit it receives.

Can you leave Florida homestead to anyone in your will?

Whether you can leave your Florida homestead to someone in your will depends on who survives you. If you leave no surviving spouse and no minor child, the homestead devise restrictions do not apply at all — you may leave the home to anyone you choose. If you leave a surviving spouse but no minor child, you may leave the home to your spouse, but the gift must pass your entire interest to the spouse — not a life estate and not a partial share — and you cannot leave it to anyone else. If you are survived by a minor child, you cannot devise the homestead to anyone; your will does not control, and the home instead passes under Florida’s homestead-descent rules. One exception runs through all of this: a spouse can give up these protections in advance — in a valid marital agreement or through specific language in a deed — which frees you to leave the home to others. A spouse’s waiver does not, however, remove the separate restriction that applies when a minor child survives you. For a Florida homestead surviving spouse, the protections apply whatever the will says, unless they were validly waived. Article X, section 4(c) of the Florida Constitution and § 732.4015 restrict the devise of homestead when the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child, and a devise that violates the restriction does not take effect. Who inherits Florida homestead property then? It descends as § 732.401 directs, generally a life estate to the surviving spouse with a vested remainder to the descendants, or, at the spouse’s election within six months after death, an undivided half interest as tenant in common with the descendants. The election is made by recording a notice in the county’s official records, is irrevocable once made, and the six months may be extended only on a timely petition by a guardian of the property or attorney in fact. Protected homestead is also excepted from the personal representative’s right of possession under § 733.607(1). Because the home is often the largest asset in an Orlando estate, a devise that ignores the restriction can reorder the whole distribution; a tax homestead exemption does not by itself answer the descent question, and the deed, the decedent’s residence, marital status and descendants all have to be checked before anyone assumes the house can be sold, divided or used to pay debts.

Are you entitled to anything if you are not mentioned in the will?

Possibly. Can you contest a will if you were left out? Only with standing and a recognized ground; feeling unfairly left out of a will is not itself a legal ground. Florida allows a parent to disinherit an adult child, and a disinheritance that was the testator’s own decision, executed with capacity and without undue influence, holds. Several doctrines can still produce a share. A pretermitted spouse who married the testator after the will was made receives an intestate share under § 732.301 unless provided for or waived by agreement, provided for in the will, or excluded by an intention the will discloses. A spouse who was named in the will but given little is in a different position, and Florida elective share law is usually the route there. What is a pretermitted child? Florida protects a child born or adopted after the will was executed, who receives an intestate share under § 732.302, subject to its two exceptions and to advancements; the doctrine protects after-born children, not a child deliberately omitted from a later will. A provision for a former spouse is void on dissolution under § 732.507(2), with its own timing and exceptions. Homestead descent applies regardless of the will, and a successful challenge to the will itself remains available where the grounds exist. Being an adult child does not by itself create an entitlement to a fixed share under a valid will; the question is which right applies and what facts support it, not whether a family member considers the outcome unfair.

Back to guide sections

Can there be litigation if there is no will?

Can you contest an intestate estate? Not the statute’s division itself. Contesting an estate without a will is therefore about facts rather than an instrument, and contesting intestacy means disputing who the heirs are and their shares (§ 733.105) or who should serve, since there is no will to attack. Heirship disputes in Central Florida families often involve a second marriage, a child from an earlier relationship, an adoption, or a relative abroad, and they are decided on documents: birth, marriage and death records, prior judgments, and the family tree set against the intestacy statutes. Priority for appointment as personal representative is governed by § 733.301, and qualification is a separate question. Can a convicted felon serve as personal representative in Florida? No. Section 733.303 also disqualifies a person convicted of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult, a person mentally or physically unable to perform the duties, and anyone under 18. A contested appointment is heard before letters issue, which is why the formal-notice rule in the notices section matters here too. A smaller estate may instead proceed by summary administration, and a Florida formal notice of petition for summary administration calls for the same prompt response from the person who receives it. If someone produces a document after the estate has been opened as intestate, its validity and the timing of its production are examined under the same rules as any other will contest. The Orlando heirship searches that reach this page usually describe one of these situations; the firm handles them as contested matters when the heirs or the appointment are disputed, and routes uncontested affidavits of heirs to Orlando probate administration.

Back to guide sections

Creditor claims and objections

Section 733.702 generally measures claim filing by the later of three months after first publication of the notice to creditors or, for a creditor required to be served, 30 days after service, and its qualifications and extension provisions matter; § 733.710 imposes a separate two-year limitation from death with statutory exceptions, including provisions affecting timely filed claims and specified liens. An objection to a claim, once served, starts its own clock for the creditor to bring an independent action, and a personal representative who receives a claim has corresponding decisions to make. A search for “caveat probate Florida” from the creditor side leads to § 731.110; a creditor may file a caveat only after death, and a caveat is not a statement of claim. A secured claim or an insurance-related claim requires particular attention. The Florida probate creditors guide explains the process for both sides.

Back to guide sections

Can a guardianship be contested in Orange County?

A contested guardianship moves on a different timetable from an estate dispute, with an examining committee, a hearing on capacity and, in urgent cases, a petition for an emergency temporary guardian. It is also the proceeding in which elder exploitation that is happening now can be stopped, as opposed to recovered after death, which is why an Orlando elder financial abuse attorney considers the guardianship route first when the person is still alive. Where the concern is financial abuse, power of attorney records and bank statements come first, and anyone who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a vulnerable adult is being exploited, for example by an agent misusing a power of attorney, must immediately report it to the state’s central abuse hotline, the Florida Abuse Hotline (§§ 415.103, 415.1034); that is how to report power of attorney abuse of a vulnerable adult. Can a power of attorney be contested while the principal is alive? Yes. How to contest a power of attorney at that stage is a petition asking the court to construe the instrument or review the agent’s conduct under § 709.2116, and a pending guardianship can affect the agent’s authority. Guardianship litigation is handled through the firm’s Florida guardianship litigation practice; the Florida guardianship guide explains the proceeding. Court-provided interpreters and digital recording are available in guardianship matters in Division 1 even though they are not routinely provided in probate matters, which is one of several reasons the two proceedings should not be treated as interchangeable.

Back to guide sections

Orlando, Orange County and the proper court

Where is an Orlando probate dispute filed, and does it belong in Orange County?

For probate, § 733.101 starts with the Florida county where the decedent was domiciled at death. If the decedent had no Florida domicile, venue lies in a county where the decedent’s property is located; if neither, the statute provides a further rule involving the residence of a debtor. A beneficiary living in Orlando does not, by itself, make Orange County the venue; a parent domiciled in Kissimmee (Osceola County) at death is an Osceola County estate, and Seminole, Lake, Polk and Volusia estates are not routed to Orange County because the family describes itself as being in the Orlando area. For a Spanish-language guide to a Seminole County estate, see Seminole County probate (in Spanish). A search for a lawyer to contest a will near me finds lawyers near the person searching; the court is decided by where the decedent was domiciled and what the decedent owned. Filing in the Orlando probate court when the estate belongs elsewhere is not fatal, because the court may transfer the case, but it costs time. Trust venue has its own rules in § 736.0204, and partition ordinarily follows the land under § 64.022, so a dispute that spans a will, a trust and a house may require more than one venue analysis.

Orange County records for a contested estate

Orange County probate court records are kept by the Clerk; land records are kept separately by the Comptroller, and a dispute usually needs both. Are probate records public in Florida? Generally yes, subject to confidentiality rules that shield certain information and filings, so a search of Orange County probate records online shows the docket but not every document.

The Orange County clerk of court probate division address is a court service location, not a Lorenzo Law office. Check the Clerk’s current instructions, the Orange County probate court phone number on the Clerk’s site and your hearing notice before visiting; a filing counter, a courtroom and a remote-hearing link are not interchangeable, and the phones and the counter keep different hours. For fees, forms, case lookups and filing mechanics, see the Orange County probate court guide; this page covers what a contested case adds. Orange County probate efiling runs through the statewide e-filing portal for petitions, objections and other filings, while proposed orders go to the division as the division’s procedures direct. E-filing through the portal is required for attorneys; a self-represented party may use the portal but can also file on paper with the clerk.

What do the Orange County probate divisions require at a contested hearing?

Formally the Probate, Guardianship and Mental Health Division (Division 5), the Orange County probate division Orlando litigants deal with is divided into sub-divisions, each with an assigned circuit judge and its own written procedures. As verified on 14 October 2026, the judges directory listed the Orange County probate judges as Judge Mark S. Blechman in sub-division 01 at the Orange County Courthouse, Judge Heather L. Higbee in sub-division 02 and Judge Greg A. Tynan in sub-division 9, both at the Thomas S. Kirk Justice Center; assignments change by administrative order, sometimes mid-year, so confirm the division on the case before relying on any procedure. The published Division 1 procedures, revised in April 2026 and linked from the directory, illustrate what contested preparation involves in this circuit:

• Probate hearings are not digitally recorded. Only guardianship and mental health proceedings are recorded by the court. A party who wants a record of a probate hearing retains and pays for a court reporter.
• Interpreters are not routinely provided for probate matters. The court does not routinely provide spoken-language interpreters in probate matters, and a party who needs one often must arrange and pay for it privately. But this is not absolute: a court may appoint an interpreter for a party who cannot understand English where a fundamental interest is at stake and no alternative exists, must provide one for a witness who cannot understand or be understood in English, and must appoint one for a deaf participant (whose fee in a civil case is paid from county funds). Tell the division early if you or a witness needs interpretation (§§ 90.606, 90.6063; Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.560).
• Evidentiary hearings are in person. Non-evidentiary matters may be heard by remote appearance on the division’s video platform; telephone appearance is not permitted; cameras stay on and a testifying witness shows government-issued identification on camera. A party may move for a remote evidentiary appearance in advance, and the other side has a short window to object.
• Exhibits are exchanged in advance. Numbered exhibits are delivered to chambers and exchanged with the other side several business days before the hearing, followed by a good-faith conference on stipulations and objections to admissibility; objections not raised by exhibit number can be treated as waived.
• Hearing length is controlled. Short, uncontested matters are set in minutes; anything over an hour needs the judge’s approval and a scheduling email in the division’s required form, which is why a contested evidentiary hearing is requested through the division rather than simply noticed.
• AI use in filings must be disclosed. A filing prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence must include a plain statement disclosing that use and a certification that every citation to law or to the record has been independently verified, on pain of sanctions including striking the filing.
• Proposed orders are submitted in Word by email with the current checklist attached, and the Clerk audits homestead, summary administration and discharge orders before they are signed, which adds days to the timeline.

Those are the instructions of one division, not a rule across Orange and Osceola County. Read the current procedures of the division assigned to the case, arrange the reporter, interpreter, witnesses and exhibits in advance, and ask how the record will be preserved if an appeal is possible.

Court reporters at Orlando probate hearings

If there is any chance of an appeal, arrange your own court reporter. Because probate hearings in this Orange County, Florida probate division are not recorded by the court, no transcript exists unless a party arranged one, and an appellate court reviewing a factual finding without a transcript will ordinarily affirm. The cost of a reporter at a contested evidentiary hearing is small against the cost of having no appeal at all. Raise it when the hearing is requested, not the week before.

Orange County probate appeals

An Orange County probate appeal goes to the Sixth District Court of Appeal, which serves the Ninth Judicial Circuit under § 35.044; it began hearing cases on 1 January 2023, so an appeal from the Orange probate court now goes there, and older references to the Fifth District for Orange County appeals are out of date. Whether a particular probate order is appealable, the deadline, preservation of error and the adequacy of the record each require separate analysis, and the treatment of earlier decisions from other districts is a question of current precedent for the appellate lawyer rather than a rule that can be stated in advance. Appeals should be evaluated on the actual order and the actual record.

Back to guide sections

Can a threatened sale or distribution be stopped?

A search for “can executor sell house in Florida” has a qualified answer: a personal representative may sell real property when the will grants a power of sale or the court authorizes it (§ 733.613), but protected homestead is expressly excepted from the right of possession, and a sale below market, to an insider or without required authority can be challenged. Can an executor buy estate property from the estate? Only with safeguards: a personal representative who buys estate property personally has a conflict of interest, and the purchase is voidable by any interested person, except one who consented after fair disclosure, unless the will or a contract entered into by the decedent expressly authorized it or the court approves it after notice to interested persons (§ 733.610); an independent appraisal and open marketing help support a request for that approval. If the executor does not distribute estate property but instead lists it for sale to a relative, object before the sale closes rather than after, because revocation of probate does not impair title already conveyed to a good-faith purchaser for value (§ 733.109(3)). While a petition to revoke probate is pending, § 733.109(2) bars distributions that would defeat the rights of those who would take without the disputed will. Where the risk is to trust property, the Trust Code’s remedies for breach apply, and where the risk is to a living person’s assets, the guardianship route may be faster than any estate remedy. Probate dispute lawyers can do far less after a closing than before it, so if the need cannot wait, say so at the first contact and establish whether counsel can undertake it.

Back to guide sections

How a contested matter proceeds

See the chart “How a contested estate case proceeds in the Ninth Circuit”

Contested will and probate lawyers on both sides work through these same stages, and there is no reliable duration based only on the word probate or the county. A dispute resolved after focused document review differs from a case requiring multiple depositions, expert testimony, contested hearings or an appeal, and record availability, the number of parties, scheduling and procedural issues all affect the timetable. The firm discusses the proposed stages and their uncertainties after reviewing the facts; no completion date is promised.

Back to guide sections

Fees, costs and whether litigation makes sense

How much does it cost to contest a will in Orlando, and who pays?

How much does it cost to sue an estate? It depends on the claim, and the same drivers apply. The cost of contesting a will in Florida depends on the work: obtaining and reviewing records, investigating execution, the number of depositions, whether experts are needed, the number of parties and documents, mediation and the preparation for a hearing or trial. A handwriting dispute needs different evidence from a capacity challenge, and a fiduciary accounting claim needs transaction analysis rather than medical testimony. How reasonable the other side is can change the cost substantially, and neither party controls it. The cost of challenging a will also includes court reporting, interpretation, expert fees and other litigation expenses, considered alongside attorney’s fees, and routine probate administration pricing is not a quote for contested litigation. At the consultation the firm identifies which of those drivers apply to your facts and what the first phase would accomplish. How much does it cost to remove an executor, and how long does it take to remove an executor? Both depend mainly on whether the representative contests the petition and how much of the accounting is disputed; no fixed figure or timetable can be given. How expensive is trust litigation by comparison? The same drivers apply, with the added cost of a civil action and, often, a forensic review of the trust accounts.

Florida is not a pure each-side-pays jurisdiction in probate. Several provisions can shift fees, none of them automatically, and the exposure can run in more than one direction.

Can the estate pay your lawyer to contest the will? Generally only where the lawyer’s services benefited the estate. Section 733.106(3) authorizes “reasonable compensation from the estate” for an attorney who has rendered services to the estate, and Florida courts read that to require services “necessary for or beneficial to the probate estate” (Dew v. Nerreter): a contest that establishes the decedent’s true will and thereby benefits the estate can support a fee award (In re Estate of Griffis), while an unsuccessful challenger generally cannot recover. The 2026 legislation (ch. 2026-57) did not change the case-law benefit standard discussed above. The good-faith proponent rule in the table (§ 733.106(2)) is a different provision. Whether any of these provisions applies to you, and whether it helps or exposes you, is part of the first evaluation. Potential recovery and adverse exposure are discussed together before a decision to litigate.

Do you take probate litigation on contingency?

Sometimes. The firm considers contingency arrangements for appropriate contested estate matters depending on the matter and the facts: the strength of the claim, what is recoverable and whether the asset can be reached at the end. It is not a blanket policy. Other matters use hourly fees against a retainer, a flat fee for a defined task, or a hybrid arrangement that reduces the hourly rate in exchange for a contingency component. A contingency arrangement does not necessarily mean the client has no responsibility for costs if there is no recovery, and a hybrid arrangement can include fees payable regardless of outcome. The written agreement states the fees, the costs, the scope, who is responsible for expenses and how any recovery affects payment. No particular arrangement is promised before review, and any contested wills lawyer you consult should put the arrangement in writing before work begins.

A general success rate of contesting a will in Florida does not establish the percentage chance of winning your own case. A responsible assessment depends on the evidence, the legal ground, the procedure and the defenses; a changed plan, a family conflict or a large estate does not supply a probability. Run the arithmetic before the emotion: compare what you would receive if you win against what you receive under the current documents, subtract realistic fees and costs, and discount for risk. Is it worth contesting a will? That arithmetic is how to decide. Where the difference is small, litigation is usually the wrong tool and a negotiated family settlement agreement is the right one; where it is large, the case deserves a serious look. The consultation identifies what needs further investigation and the proposed scope of representation; it is not a promise of a completed investigation, a final opinion or a recovery at no charge.

Back to guide sections

Common situations in Central Florida estates

What is an inheritance dispute, in legal terms? Any disagreement over who receives a decedent’s property, or how much, that a court may have to resolve: a will or trust contest, a fight over a deed or account, an accounting objection or a claim against the fiduciary; each inheritance claim takes its own route. Estate disputes between siblings are a familiar version, and the first task of an inheritance dispute attorney is to identify which kind it is.

A parent left everything to a caregiver

This is the classic undue influence example, and it is evaluated, not assumed. A paid caregiver who becomes a substantial beneficiary will often have occupied a confidential relationship, and the elements of undue influence Florida courts apply, including the Carpenter factors, are checked one by one: who drove the parent to the lawyer, who chose the lawyer, who was in the room, who knew the terms first and who kept the original. If the elements are established, the burden shifts to the caregiver to prove the absence of undue influence; if they are not, a caregiver who was simply named is not a wrongdoer. Facility and agency records, visitor logs and shift notes are often decisive and are not retained indefinitely, so preservation comes first.

A sibling used a power of attorney for their own benefit

Examples of power of attorney abuse that bring families to counsel include checks written to the agent, new joint accounts naming the agent, gifts the document did not authorize and real property deeded to the agent. With a sibling abusing power of attorney authority, separate before death from after death, because the claims and the proper plaintiff differ, as described under power of attorney abuse. Secure the records before confronting anyone. Where the sibling is also the nominated or appointed personal representative, the conflict itself may be the first issue.

A stepmother or stepfather received everything

Second-marriage estates raise several distinct questions at once: the homestead devise restriction, which can defeat a devise of the house where a minor child survives, and which permits a devise to the spouse only if it passes the entire interest; the elective share right in Florida, if you are the spouse rather than the child; survivorship and beneficiary designations changed late in life; and an undue influence Florida will challenge to a plan executed after the marriage. Bring the deed, the account statements and every version of the estate plan you can obtain. The answer depends on which right applies, not on which side of the family you are on.

The personal representative has gone silent

When an executor won’t distribute estate assets or answer calls, put the demand in writing and ask specifically for the inventory and the accounting. Can an executor be removed for silence alone? Not usually: silence in response to a written demand is itself evidence, and it is the first step toward a petition to compel, removal and surcharge, as described under personal representative disputes.

The will was changed shortly before death

It can be legitimate. People do reasonably revise their plans near the end of life. A child disinherited from will after will over decades is in a different position from one removed by a single late change. What makes a late change worth investigating is the pattern around it: a new lawyer the decedent had never used, a beneficiary who arranged everything, a sharp break from decades of consistent intent, isolation from other family, and cognitive decline documented in the records. One of those is a question. Several of them are a reason to have an Orlando will contest lawyer look at the records, not a verdict.

Back to guide sections

Choosing counsel: comparing Orlando probate litigation attorneys

What type of lawyer do you need to contest a will? An attorney to contest a will in Florida should be a Florida lawyer whose practice includes contested probate, not only planning or administration, and who will try the case if it does not settle. A search for probate litigation lawyers near me returns multi-attorney firms and solo practices alike, so ask also who will take the depositions and argue the hearing. Lorenzo Law is a solo practice: the attorney you speak with at the first call is the attorney who handles any matter the firm accepts. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. has been a member of The Florida Bar since 4 October 2013 (Bar No. 107002); before admission he served as a third-year law student judicial intern with the Honorable Maria M. Korvick in the Probate Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. His practice includes estate planning, probate and trust administration, and litigation involving estates, trusts, deeds and partition, with consultations in English and Spanish. When should you call an Orlando probate litigation lawyer? When a notice of administration arrives, when you learn the will was changed late in life, when an executor fails to act, stops communicating or refuses an accounting, when you are dealing with an executor not distributing assets long after the creditor period has closed, when you suspect estate executor misconduct such as a sale to a relative, when an accounting arrives that does not add up, when you suspect a power of attorney was used for someone else’s benefit, or when you believe an estate is about to be opened without you. Records vanish, witnesses move, and the periods in the notice table run whether or not anyone told you about them.

Back to guide sections

Common questions about Orlando probate litigation

What is a caveat, and should you file one?

A caveat under § 731.110 is an early-warning filing for the period before an estate is opened. Can a will be contested after death but before probate begins? Not yet as a contest, but a caveat ensures formal notice before a will is admitted, so the objection can be made then. A caveat may be prepared on a Florida probate caveat form or drafted by counsel. Where an interested person other than a creditor has filed one, the court may not admit a will to probate or appoint a personal representative until formal notice of the petition has been served on the caveator, so the person learns of the estate and can participate before anything is decided. A creditor may file only after death, and a caveat by creditor (Florida form or not) does not carry the noncreditor protection: when letters of administration issue, the clerk must promptly notify the creditor in writing of the date letters issued and the names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney, but the creditor has no right to participate in the appointment proceedings as a noncreditor caveator does. A caveat filed before death expires two years after filing. It is not itself a will contest and not proof of entitlement to anything; any notice received afterward still needs a timely response. When can a will be contested? Only after the testator’s death: a will cannot be contested before death under § 732.518; a pre-death caveat and, where exploitation is occurring now, a guardianship proceeding are among the tools available while the person is alive.

Can you get a jury trial in a Florida will contest?

No. Probate issues are tried by the court without a jury, a rule the Florida Supreme Court has stated directly, and the case is prepared for a judge who knows the Probate Code. A tortious interference with an expectancy claim is an ordinary civil action and can carry a jury right, and where the facts support both routes the choice of vehicle can decide who finds the facts; whether that choice is available depends on the limits in the tortious-interference answer.

Does a missed will deadline become a tort claim?

Not automatically, and “when is it too late to contest a will” is answered by the notice table, not by this tort. Can a will be overturned after probate is closed? Generally not: once the personal representative is discharged the revocation route is gone, and this tort, where it applies, awards damages rather than setting the will aside. Tortious interference with inheritance (Florida courts speak of an expected inheritance, or an expectancy) is an independent tort with its own elements: an expectancy, intentional interference by tortious conduct such as fraud, duress or undue influence, causation and damages. The Florida Supreme Court held in DeWitt v. Duce, 408 So. 2d 216 (Fla. 1981), that where adequate relief is available in the probate proceeding it must be pursued there, but the bar is not absolute: a tort claim may proceed where the circumstances effectively preclude adequate probate relief, such as fraud discovered only after probate or the wrongdoer’s concealment of the death until the probate deadlines had run. It is not a routine workaround for challenging a will after probate deadlines have run, and it should not be planned as one. Bring the entire probate history, including any final discharge or earlier adverse orders, so counsel can examine what remedy was available and what prevented its use.

Do you need to travel to Florida if you live elsewhere?

Searching for probate litigators near me from another state finds lawyers near you, not near the estate. You need a Florida lawyer, and an out-of-state heir, beneficiary or personal representative does not need to be in Florida for most of it: document review, filings, most depositions and non-evidentiary hearings can be handled remotely, subject to the court’s rules and orders. A party or witness may still be required to attend a deposition, an evidentiary hearing or a trial in person; counsel’s appearance does not substitute for your testimony. Give the firm your location and any travel, interpretation or accessibility needs early, and do not book travel or assume it is unnecessary until the hearing arrangements are confirmed. For a personal representative who lives outside Florida, see the out-of-state executor guide; where the decedent lived elsewhere and left Orlando property, the estate may instead be an ancillary administration, which has its own rules.

How long does a contested probate case take?

Long enough that nobody should be given a date on the first call. A matter that resolves at or before mediation is a different case from one that proceeds through full discovery, expert testimony and an evidentiary hearing, and an appeal adds its own time. The variables are the volume of records, whether medical or other experts are needed, how many parties are involved, how the other side behaves and how the assigned division schedules contested hearings. The firm gives a range for the proposed first phase after reviewing the facts, and revises it as the case develops.

Orlando, Central Florida and the firm’s offices

This page describes representation in Orlando and Orange County matters, including families in Winter Park, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, Lake Nona, Millenia, Apopka, Ocoee and Winter Garden, and the Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Polk and Volusia County matters that reach the firm from Kissimmee, Celebration, St. Cloud, Altamonte Springs, Sanford, Oviedo and Clermont are evaluated according to the parties, the property and the proper court. The principal office is in Kissimmee; there is no Orlando office. Consultations are available statewide by phone or video, in English and Spanish, and by appointment in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale. ¿Prefiere español? Vea abogado de herencias en Orlando. Para Winter Park, vea abogado de herencias en Winter Park. ¿Quiere impugnar testamento? Florida fija plazos breves, así que consulte cuanto antes.

Back to guide sections

Speak with an Orlando probate litigation attorney

Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. is a Florida attorney, Bar No. 107002, admitted 4 October 2013, and Lorenzo Law’s sole attorney. The firm’s principal office is in Kissimmee; he meets clients by appointment in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale, and consultations are available statewide by phone or video, in English and Spanish. As an Orlando probate litigation attorney, an Orlando contested will attorney and an Orlando estate litigation attorney by practice rather than by office, he represents beneficiaries, heirs, spouses, creditors and fiduciaries in Orange County and across Central Florida, and the attorney you speak with at the first call is the attorney who handles any matter the firm accepts. Read his professional background.

Request a free initial consultation. Only the initial consultation is free; representation fees and costs are agreed separately in writing. Representation requires a conflicts review, acceptance and a written engagement agreement, and requesting a consultation does not stop a deadline or establish representation.

Request a free initial consultation·Call (305) 224-6811

For the statewide contested-estate service, see the Florida probate litigation attorney page; for trust & probate litigation centered on a trust, Florida trust litigation; for an estate with no dispute, Orlando probate administration; and for a plan of your own, Orlando estate planning. Related pages: Boca Raton probate litigation and West Palm Beach probate litigation.

This page provides general information about Florida law. It is not legal advice, and reading it or submitting an inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Sources and authorities cited

Statutes cited are Florida Statutes (2026); the text of the law and the current rules control over any summary on this page. Court procedures change by administrative order and division, and the assigned division’s current page controls. Case citations are provided for the propositions stated and should be read in full.