Tampa Probate Litigation Attorney

At a glance: contested estates in Tampa and Hillsborough County

What does a Tampa probate litigation attorney do?

What does a probate litigator do that an administration lawyer does not? The contested work above, from the first written demand through discovery, depositions, mediation, an evidentiary hearing or trial, and any appeal. People describe that work in different words. Some search for a Tampa probate litigation lawyer or a Hillsborough County probate litigation attorney; others for a Tampa will contest attorney, a probate dispute attorney, an estate litigation attorney, a trust litigation attorney, an inheritance dispute lawyer or contested probate help in Brandon or Plant City. What type of lawyer do I need to contest a will? A litigator who handles contested probate and trust proceedings, not only administration or planning; searches for a lawyer to contest a will near me, a challenge will lawyer or lawyers challenging a will are looking for that work. What’s the difference between a litigator and an attorney? Every litigator is an attorney; a litigator is an attorney whose work is contested matters in court, including discovery, depositions, hearings and trial. What does an estate litigator or a trust litigation lawyer do? The same contested work applied to an estate and its personal representative, or to a trust and its trustee: challenging or defending the instrument, compelling an accounting, seeking removal or surcharge, and recovering property. The table matches each term to what it usually means and where this page answers it.

Lorenzo Law is a solo practice. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. handles both sides of these disputes: representation may mean bringing a challenge or defending one, subject to a conflicts review. The lawyer for a personal representative does not automatically represent every beneficiary, and relatives with conflicting interests may need separate counsel. Tell the firm your role and the names of the other parties before sending detailed private records, so that conflicts and the scope of any representation can be assessed.

Names people use for these disputes

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; it is real legal work with court oversight even when nobody objects, and a judge’s involvement alone does not make an estate contested. 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). 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 a Hillsborough estate opened or administered without a dispute, start with the Tampa probate lawyer page; the court-procedure side of a Hillsborough estate, including forms, records and filing mechanics, is covered in the Hillsborough County probate court guide; and the statewide contested-estate service is described on the Florida probate litigation page. Planning, administration and contested representation are separate engagements.

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Which kind of estate dispute do you have?

How the routes fit together

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

These are possible routes for evaluation, not findings that a claim exists or that a particular remedy will be granted. Florida estate litigation can involve related probate, trust and property proceedings, each with its own parties and requirements, and in Hillsborough a related civil action may be assigned to the Circuit Civil Division rather than the probate division. The Florida estate disputes guide explains how the pieces fit together.

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Who can contest a will or trust in Hillsborough County?

Can anyone contest a will in Florida? No. In practice, the people who can contest a will in Florida are those whom the outcome of the contest would affect — typically a beneficiary under the challenged will, a beneficiary under a prior will, an intestate heir who would inherit if the will failed, or a surviving spouse. A creditor of the decedent is an interested person as to matters affecting administration and its claim, but a creditor is generally not entitled to contest the will’s validity itself; a creditor’s remedy is the claims process, unless the outcome of the contest would actually change the creditor’s position. Who can contest a will in Florida is therefore a question about what the outcome would change for you, and it is the first thing opposing counsel will test, so it is confirmed before anything is filed.

Claim ownership is a separate question from standing. A loss to the estate, such as an unexplained withdrawal or a sale below value, usually belongs to the estate, and the personal representative normally pursues it; a loss to a trust usually belongs to the trust. An individual beneficiary cannot assume that every loss to the estate is a personal claim for that beneficiary’s share, and where the fiduciary is the person accused, the route may run through removal or the appointment of an administrator ad litem.

• A beneficiary or potential heir. Bring the current will, any earlier instruments and the family relationships that matter for inheritance. A person omitted from a later will may have an interest to protect, but the documents and the legal effect of a successful challenge must be examined first.
• A surviving spouse. A spouse may hold elective share, homestead and pretermitted-spouse rights that require their own analysis and timely action. A will contest is not a substitute for an election or another required claim. See spouses, children and heirs.
• A personal representative or trustee. Identify whether you seek advice in your fiduciary capacity, personally, or both. An objection or allegation needs a timely response even when you believe your conduct was proper, and potential conflicts affect representation. See defending a will, trust or fiduciary.
• A co-owner or someone questioning a transfer. Bring the deed, account ownership records or beneficiary designation. The right to sue may belong to the estate, a trustee or another person rather than an individual family member.

Standing by family relationship

The table answers the questions families ask in their own words: siblings contesting a will, a sibling contesting a will alone, grandchildren contesting a will, an adult child contesting a parent’s will, a stepchild contesting a will of a stepparent, and an executor contesting a will. In each, standing comes from how the outcome of the challenge may reasonably be expected to affect the person, usually through an inheritance under a prior will or by intestacy, not from the family relationship itself.

Can you contest a will if you were left out of it?

Only with standing and a recognized ground. Being unfairly left out of a will is not itself a legal ground, and Florida allows a parent to disinherit an adult child: a disinheritance that was the testator’s own decision, made with capacity and without undue influence, holds. Being disinherited is usually the reason for a contest, not proof of one, and not a bar to one if the person would take under a prior will or by intestacy. Bring the document or facts supporting your interest: a previous will, a trust provision, the family relationship, a fiduciary appointment or a claim against the estate.

Does the estate’s lawyer represent the beneficiaries?

No. The attorney for the personal representative represents the personal representative, not each beneficiary, and that lawyer’s explanation of what you will receive, or why a distribution is delayed, is not independent advice to you. The same is true of a trustee’s counsel. Before sending detailed records to anyone, explain whose interests you want protected and identify the other parties, so the firm can assess conflicts and the proposed scope of representation.

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

Keep a notice log with the document title, sender, recipient, date sent, date received, method of delivery, any waiver and its filing date, and any hearing date, and give counsel the documents themselves, not just the dates you wrote down. A request for records or an ongoing settlement discussion does not, by itself, preserve a claim, and an inquiry to a lawyer does not stop a deadline. Do not calculate the deadline from an envelope date alone or from the day someone told you about the death.

Which notice starts which clock

This is a review aid, not a deadline calendar. It does not calculate a date for any particular estate. Sources: Florida Probate Rules (amendments effective Oct. 1, 2026) and the statutes linked in each row.

See the chart “What starts the clock: seven documents and the timing rule each one triggers”

Is the deadline three months or 90 days?

Three months, measured from service. Section 733.212, the will contest Florida statute that governs a served interested person’s objections, uses a period of 3 months, meaning three calendar months, and three calendar months is not the same as 90 days, because a month may have 28, 29, 30 or 31 days. “90 days from receiving the notice” misstates the rule in two ways: the period is three months, and it runs from service, not from whenever the notice was opened. People search for the statute of limitations to contest a will in Florida; for a served interested person this is it, and it is measured from service, not from death. A lawyer should calculate the actual date from the service history and the applicable time-computation rules, and where the filing is close to the end of the period, the safe course is to file early rather than argue about computation later.

Can a will be contested after probate has started, or after it closes?

After it starts, yes, within the periods in the notice table. 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. Can a probated will be contested, or a will be contested after probate is granted? Yes: contesting a will after probate has started is done by a petition to revoke probate, within those limits, and challenging a will after probate has been granted (searched as challenging a will after probate granted) follows the same route. Can a will be contested after distribution, or 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, a lawyer must evaluate those facts and the existing orders, and none of them is an automatic exception. An absent or incomplete notice does not establish that time is unlimited.

A probate contest also does not automatically halt administration. While a revocation proceeding is pending, administration continues, 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.

Caveats

A caveat under § 731.110 is an early-warning filing for the period before an estate is opened. 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 take part before anything is decided. A creditor may file only after death, and a creditor’s caveat does not carry the same protection. A caveat filed before death expires two years after filing; it is not itself a will contest and not proof of entitlement to anything. When can a will be contested? Only after the testator’s death: § 732.518 bars a will contest before death. If a will is made, can it be contested while the person is alive? No; contesting the will after death is the only route. See caveats in Florida probate.

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. Do not assume that a document labeled “waiver” was harmless, or that it eliminated every possible claim.

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What makes a Florida will invalid?

For the statewide service, see Florida will-contest representation; for the broader framework, see the guide to contesting a will in Florida. Learning how to contest or challenge a will starts with standing, grounds and timing; the local task is to connect those questions with your interest, the Hillsborough case and the notices already served.

Two features of § 732.5165 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, so a challenge can target a single gift. And it is a will statute: it does not itself invalidate a deed, an account change or a beneficiary designation, which are challenged on their own terms (see deeds and accounts). Can a will be overturned? Only on a recognized ground proved with evidence. Overturning a will, fighting a will in court and contesting a last will and testament all come down to the same basis for contesting a will: standing, a recognized ground, evidence and a timely filing. Contesting a living will is a different matter: a living will is a competent adult’s written declaration directing that life-prolonging procedures be provided, withheld or withdrawn in specified medical conditions (§ 765.302), not an instrument that passes property, so it is not the subject of a will contest. Can a holographic will be contested? Florida does not give effect to a holographic will as such, even one valid where it was written; a handwritten will counts only if it was signed and witnessed as Florida requires.

Can someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s 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. Capacity is presumed, and the challenger carries a heavy burden to prove its absence, so contesting a will due to dementia, or contesting a will due to mental capacity more generally, 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, which is the standard defense to a lack-of-capacity challenge. Medical and care records give context: compare the chronology with physician notes, cognitive assessments, facility records, medication lists and the witnesses’ observations around the signing. A diagnosis, age or family disagreement alone does not decide the issue.

How do you prove undue influence in Florida?

Undue influence is rarely proved directly, because the conduct happens behind closed doors. To define undue influence in plain terms, the undue influence meaning in law is over-persuasion, coercion or contrivance that destroys the testator’s free agency and willpower, so that the will expresses someone else’s wishes; exerting undue influence is more than persuasion, advice or affection, and help with daily care, closeness to a parent or an unequal gift alone does not establish it. Proving undue influence usually means proving circumstances. Florida courts consider whether a substantial beneficiary, in a confidential relationship with the testator, was active in procuring the will; suspicion alone does not raise the presumption. Once those facts are established, § 733.107(2) makes the presumption burden-shifting, and the will’s proponent must prove the absence of undue influence. Undue influence cases therefore turn on records: who contacted the drafting lawyer, who gave instructions, who arranged transportation, who chose the witnesses, who attended the meetings and who kept the original. Levin v. Levin, 60 So. 3d 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011), illustrates the threshold point: where the contestant cannot prove active procurement, no presumption arises at all. The presumption does not arise merely because a caregiver or relative received property, and it does not guarantee a result.

The factors associated with In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1971), are not exclusive and not a checklist on which one box decides a case. A late amendment benefiting the person who managed appointments warrants questions about instructions and independence; it does not establish wrongdoing without evidence. Keep evidence that supports the document as well as evidence that raises concerns: independent instructions, contemporaneous communications and the witnesses’ recollections may decide a defense.

Is undue influence a crime? Not as a stand-alone crime called ‘undue influence’: it is primarily a civil ground to void a will, but the underlying conduct may also be prosecuted as criminal exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult. That offense reaches obtaining a person’s assets through intentional modification or fraudulent creation of a will, trust, or other testamentary plan only when it is done without proper authority — that is, without a court order, a written authorization signed by the person before two witnesses, or action by an agent under a valid power of attorney (§ 825.103(1)(f)); charging is a decision for the State Attorney. Actual undue influence is proved by direct evidence of the influence itself; where that evidence is not available, presumed undue influence arises from the predicate facts above, and the undue influence rule in § 733.107(2) then shifts the burden. Influence exerted by someone other than the beneficiary, sometimes called third party undue influence, such as a beneficiary’s spouse or child arranging the will, raises its own questions about who held the confidential relationship and who was active in procurement, and requires separate analysis; the beneficiary who takes must still be tied to a confidential relationship and active procurement. Examples of undue influence in a will, when the records support them, include a beneficiary who chose the lawyer and attended the meetings, a sharp break from a long-standing plan after the testator was isolated from other family, and a beneficiary who controlled visitors, mail and telephone calls. None of these examples proves the claim alone; each has to be tied to the particular will and the day it was signed.

Lost wills and competing 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 or destroyed will, Florida law 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. 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. Section 732.517 makes a will provision 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. An in terrorem clause being unenforceable does not make litigation risk-free: standing requirements, deadlines, fees, costs, adverse rulings and the effect a successful challenge has on the distribution all remain. Have counsel review the actual clause and the governing law.

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Trust contests and trustee disputes

Disputing a trust follows the same logic. 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. A dispute between trustee and beneficiary, including one between a successor trustee and the beneficiaries, or between co-trustees, is a conduct claim rather than a validity claim. Trust proceedings generally use civil procedure under § 736.0201, subject to its exceptions, and trust venue has its own alternatives under § 736.0204. In Hillsborough, Administrative Order S-2024-017 assigns chapter 736 proceedings to the Tampa probate divisions unless the trustee’s usual place of business, or residence if there is none, is within the East Division boundaries, and it sends actions by or against a trustee that do not arise under chapter 736 to the Circuit Civil Division. 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 statewide service and remedies.

Can a trust be sued in Florida? 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, and a trust can be contested in court by complaint; a claim about administration is a claim against the trustee in that capacity, and sometimes personally. How hard is it to contest or sue a trust? As with a will, it turns on evidence tied to a recognized ground and on the trust’s own limitation periods, not on the size of the disappointment. How expensive is trust litigation? The cost drivers of a will contest apply, with the added cost of a civil action and, sometimes, a forensic review of the trust accounts.

Not every will or trust dispute is about validity. A construction proceeding asks the court what an ambiguous will or trust provision means, decided from the instrument’s language and, where the law permits, evidence of intent. Trust reformation asks the court to correct a mistake in the terms, on clear and convincing proof of the settlor’s intent and the mistake (§ 736.0415); a will can be reformed on the same kind of showing (§ 732.615). Modification of an irrevocable trust for reasons the Trust Code allows (§ 736.04113) is different again. Each has its own parties, proof and timing, and none is a substitute for a timely validity contest.

Can a trust be contested after the settlor dies?

Yes. A living or revocable trust is generally contested after the settlor dies, within the trust’s own limitation periods: the earlier of the applicable chapter 95 period or six months after the trustee sent the trust instrument and the required notice (§ 736.0604). Irrevocability generally determines when a validity contest may begin (§ 736.0207); it does not itself start a limitation period. The validity of a trust can be challenged for fraud, duress, mistake or undue influence (§ 736.0406); modifying or terminating a valid irrevocable trust is a different proceeding. Can a non-beneficiary, a sibling or another family member contest a trust? Only with an affected interest, such as a beneficiary under an earlier version or a person who would take if the trust failed; being a family member is not enough by itself.

What if a trustee will not provide an accounting?

A trustee not providing an accounting is one reason beneficiaries ask for help. 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; not every relative is entitled to every record. An unanswered request justifies a written demand that identifies the information sought; continued refusal supports a petition to compel an accounting, and the accounting may support further relief, including removal, a surcharge for misappropriation or other loss, or a claim for breach of trust under § 736.1001. Does a Florida trustee have to provide an accounting to beneficiaries, and how often? For an irrevocable trust, trust accounting is required: the trustee generally must provide a trust accounting to qualified beneficiaries at least annually and on termination of the trust or a change of trustee, subject to statutory exceptions, such as for some older trusts and family trust companies, and § 736.08135 sets what a trust accounting must show: receipts, disbursements, distributions, gains and losses, and assets and liabilities at the start and end of the period. A beneficiary may also request relevant information and documents, not only summary figures. Can a trust waive the duty to account? A beneficiary can waive accountings, and can withdraw that waiver for future periods; how far the trust instrument itself can limit these duties is restricted by the Trust Code’s mandatory rules (§ 736.0105). Is a remainder beneficiary entitled to an accounting? Yes, if the remainder beneficiary is a qualified beneficiary under § 736.0103; a more remote beneficiary may not be. While the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, the trustee’s duties run to the settlor (§ 736.0603). What happens if a trustee does not provide an accounting? The beneficiary can make a written demand and then petition to compel, as described above, and the court can award fees in the trust proceeding under § 736.1004. Receiving a trustee accounting is itself a date to record, because under § 736.1008 the six-month bar runs only against a matter that a trust disclosure document adequately disclosed, and only where the trustee also gave the required limitation notice; it is then measured from the later receipt of that disclosure document or the limitation notice, unless sooner barred.

Trustee conduct beyond a missing accounting

How much can a trustee charge in Florida? Unlike the personal representative schedule, there is no statutory percentage: a trustee receives the compensation the trust specifies or, if it is silent, reasonable compensation, and the court can adjust either (§ 736.0708). Can a trustee be a beneficiary? Yes, but loyalty duties apply with more force to transactions that benefit the trustee. Can a Florida trust have an out-of-state trustee? An individual trustee can live elsewhere, and by statute a trustee who accepts the trusteeship of a trust having its principal place of administration in Florida — or who serves as trustee of a trust created by a Florida-resident settlor — submits to the jurisdiction of Florida courts on matters involving the trust (§ 736.0202(2)(a)). A Florida court must still find that the nonresident trustee has sufficient minimum contacts with Florida; recent authority holds that merely accepting an appointment and assuming a predecessor’s duties, without purposefully reaching into Florida, is not enough to confer personal jurisdiction (Dunham Trust Co. v. Surrey, No. 4D2025-1889 (Fla. 4th DCA Apr. 29, 2026)). When a trustee resigns, dies or is removed and no cotrustee remains, the vacancy is filled first by a person named or designated under the trust, then by a person appointed by unanimous agreement of the qualified beneficiaries, and otherwise by a person appointed by the court (§ 736.0704(3)); while a cotrustee remains in office, the vacancy need not be filled (§ 736.0704(2)).

Removing a trustee

To remove a trustee, § 736.0706 supplies a framework different from the one for a personal representative. 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, subject to the statute’s conditions. Disagreement with a trustee’s discretionary decisions is not enough, so how difficult it is to remove a trustee depends on the record of the trustee’s conduct, not on the beneficiaries’ frustration. A trustee can be held personally liable for a breach of trust through surcharge or damages under § 736.1002. See the Florida trustee removal attorney page.

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When an executor or personal representative mishandles the estate

An unexplained transaction calls for a focused review: what duty applied, what records are missing, what loss or risk resulted, and what relief would address it. In Hillsborough, inventories and accountings filed in an estate are confidential and may be viewed only by the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney or an interested person, so a beneficiary who cannot see them on HOVER should not assume they were never filed.

The rows are examples of executor misconduct that justify a closer look, not proof of it. A statement showing a payment proves that money moved; it may not explain whether the payment was authorized, reasonable or a loss to the estate. Much of the work is documentary: matching each accounting entry to a statement, invoice, order or closing file, and identifying the entries with nothing behind them. See the Florida breach of fiduciary duty attorney page for the statewide service.

Can the executor take everything or remove a beneficiary?

No. A personal representative administers the estate under the governing documents and the law; an executor cannot remove a beneficiary from the will, and treating estate property as their own, favoring themselves or a relative without disclosure, or ignoring court orders is a breach of duty. The amount ultimately distributed can, however, change because of valid claims, expenses, disputed ownership, construction of the will or court orders, so a delayed or smaller distribution is not automatically misconduct. Identify the stated reason, the supporting records and any pending objection before deciding what to challenge. Can an executor also be a beneficiary? Yes, and being both is not itself a disqualifying conflict: removal on conflict grounds under § 733.504(9) requires a conflicting or adverse interest that will or may interfere with administration of the estate as a whole.

Personal representative powers, pay and successors

What are the responsibilities of a personal representative in Florida? To collect and protect the estate’s assets, pay valid claims and expenses, account to interested persons and distribute what remains, as a fiduciary bound by the duties of a trustee (§ 733.602).

What powers does a personal representative have? Those the will grants and those listed in § 733.612, such as retaining, managing and insuring assets, paying claims and expenses and employing professionals, many of them without a court order; the conduct disputes on this page are about how those powers were used.

How much does a personal representative get paid in Florida, and how are executor fees set? Reasonable compensation under § 733.617, which sets a presumptively reasonable schedule for ordinary services based on the estate’s value, subject to the will and to adjustment by the court; any interested person bearing the impact of the compensation may petition for review of it (Fla. Prob. R. 5.355), and a disputed fee can also be raised in an objection to the accounting.

Can a personal representative sell homestead property in Florida? Protected homestead is not an asset of the probate estate, and a personal representative has no authority to sell it, even under a general power of sale in the will (§ 733.607(1); § 733.608; Harrell v. Snyder, 913 So. 2d 749 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)); only a will that specifically directs the homestead to be sold, where no spouse or minor child restricts its devise, can make it an estate asset, so whether the home is protected homestead is the first question.

Who can serve as personal representative in Florida? A person who is sui juris and a Florida resident at the time of the decedent’s death (§ 733.302), or a nonresident within the relatives listed in § 733.304, in either case unless disqualified under § 733.303, which also disqualifies anyone under 18.

Can a stepchild serve as personal representative in Florida? A stepchild who lives in Florida qualifies like any other resident. A nonresident stepchild who was not legally adopted is not a blood relative of the decedent, but may qualify if he or she is the biological child of the decedent’s spouse (a person related by lineal consanguinity to the spouse under § 733.304(3)); no Florida appellate decision has resolved this on the merits, including whether it matters that the spouse died before the decedent.

How do you become a personal representative in Florida, including where there is no will? A person petitions for administration and is appointed by the court, which issues letters of administration. Preference goes first to the person named in the will; where there is no will, it goes to the surviving spouse and then the heirs (§ 733.301); see how to become a personal representative in Florida.

What is a personal representative deed in Florida? The deed by which a personal representative conveys estate real property under a power of sale in the will or a court order; a challenge to one asks whether that authority existed and whether the sale was proper (see selling estate property).

What happens when a personal representative dies in Florida? On the death of a sole or surviving personal representative, the court appoints a successor to complete the administration, and the deceased representative’s own personal representative does not take over the first estate (§ 733.307).

How do you remove a personal representative in Hillsborough County?

By a petition for removal of the personal representative (what people search for as removal of executor), filed in the estate’s own case, in the division to which it is assigned, as an adversary proceeding that identifies the precise ground and its proof. Section 733.504 distinguishes disqualification at appointment, which requires removal, from later causes, where removal is discretionary. Does a personal representative have to be guilty of intentional wrongdoing to be removed? No: wasting or maladministration of the estate, failure to comply with a court order and failure to account are causes without proof of bad intent. Listed causes include adjudication of incapacity, failure to comply with a court order, failure to account for the sale of property or to produce and exhibit estate assets when required, wasting or maladministration of the estate, failure to give bond, conviction of a felony, and holding or acquiring conflicting or adverse interests that will or may interfere with administration of the estate as a whole. Can the court suspend a personal representative or act before the removal hearing? Where estate property is at risk, the court may appoint a curator to preserve it (§ 733.501), but a curator cannot hold full authority alongside a serving personal representative without at least a temporary suspension or revocation of the letters (Gordin v. Estate of Maisel, 179 So. 3d 518 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)); the probate court also has inherent authority to take appropriate action to preserve estate assets, and what is granted depends on the showing of risk. The conflict ground does not reach a surviving spouse merely because the spouse exercised the elective share, family allowance or exemptions. How to remove executor authority is a question for the court: removing an executor of an estate is not automatic because beneficiaries dislike the representative or disagree with a decision; beneficiaries cannot remove an executor on their own. Challenging an executor of a will, also searched as challenging the executor of a will, challenging executor of estate, contesting an executor of a will or contesting executor of a will, follows this removal route rather than a will contest. Can you remove an executor after probate has opened? Yes, while the estate is open; once the personal representative has been discharged, a later problem is raised through a petition for further administration of the estate (§ 733.903) rather than removal. When removal is ordered, the removed personal representative must file a final accounting and deliver the estate’s assets and records to the successor, and removal does not exonerate the representative from liability (§ 733.506; § 733.508; § 733.509). Liability for a breach that caused a loss is addressed separately in § 733.609.

What if the personal representative will not account or distribute?

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, and there is no single statutory date by which every estate must close. When is the inventory due? Under Florida Probate Rule 5.340, the personal representative files the inventory within 60 days after letters issue and serves it on the interested persons the rule identifies, so a missing inventory is a concrete starting point. What happens if an executor refuses to provide an accounting? Delay alone is not misconduct, but delay combined with no accounting, no communication or personal use of estate assets is different. The usual sequence 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. What does an executor have to tell beneficiaries? Generally a beneficiary is entitled to the notice of administration and a copy of the will (§ 733.212), the inventory (Fla. Prob. R. 5.340), the accountings showing receipts, disbursements, distributions and fees (Fla. Prob. R. 5.346), and the petition for discharge and plan of distribution (Fla. Prob. R. 5.400) — subject to any waiver the beneficiary signed (§ 731.302). If nobody has opened the estate, an interested person may petition for administration (§ 733.202), and whoever holds the original will must deposit it with the clerk (see the 10-day rule).

Objecting to an estate accounting

For a final accounting or petition for discharge, Florida Probate Rule 5.401 requires the objection within 30 days after service of the later of the two documents, identifying the items and grounds with particularity, and served on the personal representative and interested persons within that period. If a notice of hearing on the objections is not served within 90 days after they are filed, the objections are deemed abandoned. An accounting objection is not a will contest: a beneficiary can accept the will while disputing particular entries, transactions or a proposed distribution.

Surcharge, resignation and co-representatives

Surcharge seeks to hold a fiduciary financially responsible for a proven breach and the resulting loss; removal decides who continues to serve, and surcharge addresses the harm. Section 733.609 makes the personal representative liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from a breach and contains a costs and attorney’s fees provision whose entitlement, amount and source require analysis. 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. One of several co-personal representatives can be removed without removing the others, and a co-representative who wants another removed must petition the court like any other interested person. Can a personal representative step down? Yes, by petitioning the court to resign; after notice, the court may accept the resignation if the estate’s interests are not jeopardized, the resigning representative must surrender the assets and file a final accounting, and acceptance does not end the representative’s liability (§ 733.502; § 733.5035; § 733.5036).

Selling estate property during a dispute

Can an executor sell a house in Florida? A personal representative may sell real property when the will grants a power of sale or the court authorizes it (§ 733.613), but a sale below market, to an insider or without required authority can be challenged. A personal representative who buys estate property personally has a conflict of interest, and the purchase is voidable by an interested person unless an exception in § 733.610 applies. Object before a sale closes rather than after, because revocation of probate does not impair title already conveyed to a good-faith purchaser for value. If a specific asset is at risk, tell counsel what is about to happen, who is involved, the proposed date and the documents establishing it, so that a protective request can be evaluated; calling a matter urgent does not produce a hearing or an order, and an inquiry does not preserve the asset.

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Deeds, accounts and money transferred before death

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

Yes, but not in the will contest. A house transferred by deed before death, a Lady Bird or life-estate deed, a quitclaim deed signed late in life, a joint account with right of survivorship, a payable-on-death (pay-on-death, or POD) or transfer-on-death designation, and an IRA or life insurance beneficiary form are non-probate transfers. 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. For a deed, obtain the recorded instrument and the prior deed from the Hillsborough County Clerk’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, and a Hillsborough County Property Appraiser entry or tax bill is not a substitute for the deed. 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. See Florida deed contests, whether a Lady Bird deed can be contested and challenging transfers made before death.

Because a successful will contest does not undo these transactions, one family dispute often has to be pleaded as several claims. In Hillsborough that can mean a probate proceeding in the probate division and a related civil action in the Circuit Civil Division, and the local orders disfavor consolidating the two unless any jury-trial right in the civil action has been waived by all parties. Do not assume that a deed, a trust amendment and an account change can all be challenged through one probate objection.

Can you sue a sibling who took a parent’s money before death?

Sometimes. If you believe a sibling stole money from a parent, separate what happened before death from what happened afterward, because the claims and the proper plaintiff differ. Before death, an agent’s misuse of a 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 abuse of that kind may also constitute exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult. After death, 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 may be removal or the appointment of an administrator ad litem. Some claims require action by a fiduciary on behalf of an estate or trust rather than by an individual relative.

Section 772.11 can provide a civil theft or exploitation remedy in qualifying cases, with a heightened proof standard, a pre-suit demand requirement and potential fee consequences for unsupported claims. It is not an automatic multiplier for every disputed withdrawal, and enhanced damages are not an automatic penalty payable to an heir. Criminal investigation and charging are separate from civil recovery and are decisions for the State Attorney; neither guarantees that money will be returned. Can you sue a sibling for stealing your inheritance? Where the facts support it, the claim runs through the estate or the parent’s own claims, as above. Remedies can include damages, an accounting and return of the property, along with equitable relief such as a constructive trust or an equitable lien on property traced to the taking. Punitive damages require a separate showing and leave of court (§ 768.72). The defenses are predictable: that the money was a gift, that the parent gave permission, that the power of attorney authorized it, that the claim is late, or that the estate suffered no loss, and each is tested against the instrument, the records and the burden of proof. Tortious interference with an expected inheritance is a separate civil claim, generally unavailable where the probate proceeding offers an adequate remedy. Civil claims of this kind carry their own limitation periods under chapter 95, separate from the probate deadlines. What are the legal consequences of stealing from an estate in Florida? Civil liability, removal and surcharge if the person is a fiduciary, and possible prosecution for theft or exploitation, which is the State Attorney’s decision. Florida has no single inheritance theft law; the remedies come from probate, civil and criminal statutes. Proving power of attorney abuse starts with the instrument granting authority and the actual transfers, so preserve both before confronting anyone. Discuss the transaction first so the appropriate representation can be identified; this page does not promise representation in every civil-theft, inheritance-theft or exploitation claim.

If the person is still alive

A will contest cannot begin before the testator’s death (§ 732.518). Concern about elder exploitation, or elder financial exploitation, of a living parent calls for a different review of present risk, authority to act and the available protective remedies. Section 825.1035 provides a civil injunction process for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult; the statute identifies who may seek relief, a family relationship alone is not enough, and filing a petition does not automatically freeze every account. Anyone who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a vulnerable adult is being exploited must report it to the Florida Abuse Hotline (§ 415.1034). Ask promptly about adult guardianship or contested guardianship when those issues are involved. Describe the immediate issue so the firm can assess the appropriate scope; no asset freeze, recovery or emergency representation is promised.

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What rights do spouses, children and heirs have outside a will contest?

The Florida elective share is 30 percent of the elective estate under § 732.2065, and the elective estate is not the probate estate: it reaches payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, the decedent’s 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 there is nothing in the estate because everything passed by trust or beneficiary designation may be misinformed. The election is generally due within the earlier of six months after service of the notice of administration or two years after death (§ 732.2135), with extension and tolling provisions that require their own review. The Florida elective share and heirs’ rights page covers the election, valuation and a worksheet.

Homestead operates regardless of the will. 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; the home then descends as § 732.401 directs, generally a life estate to the surviving spouse with a remainder to the descendants, or, at the spouse’s timely election, an undivided half interest. A spouse can give up these protections in advance in a valid marital agreement or through specific language in a deed, but a spouse’s waiver does not remove the separate restriction that applies when a minor child survives. A tax homestead exemption on the Property Appraiser’s records does not by itself answer the descent question. Exempt property and the family allowance are additional statutory protections for a surviving spouse and certain children (§ 732.402; § 732.403).

Spouses and children omitted from a will

A pretermitted spouse, one 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 but given little is in a different position, and the elective share is usually the route there. A pretermitted child, one born or adopted after the will was executed, receives an intestate share under § 732.302, subject to its exceptions; the rule protects after-born children, not a child deliberately omitted from a later will. Being an adult child does not by itself create an entitlement to a fixed share under a valid will.

Estates with no will, and disputed heirs

An intestate estate is divided by statute, so the disputes are about who the heirs are, who is entitled to serve as personal representative, whether a document someone calls a will is one, and whether property passed outside the estate. A determination of heirs or beneficiaries is its own proceeding (§ 733.105), decided on documents: birth, marriage, adoption and death records, proof of paternity or maternity where a parent-child relationship is disputed, 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: § 733.303 disqualifies, among others, a person convicted of a felony and a person convicted of abuse, neglect or exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult. A contested appointment is heard before letters issue, which is why the formal-notice rule in the notice table matters here too. Contesting intestacy, also searched as contesting an intestate estate, challenging an intestate estate, challenge intestacy or contesting an estate without a will, therefore means challenging a claimed heirship, a petition for administration or a document offered as a will, not the intestacy statute itself.

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Inherited property and partition

Disputes over inherited property and family conflict over inheritance of property start with ownership and the authority to sell, then division. If a deed transferred the property during life, invalidating a later will may not resolve title. If the house was the decedent’s homestead, the homestead rules decide who owns it before any partition question arises. If co-owners accept their ownership but cannot agree on keeping or selling, partition may be the relevant route: the court first determines the parties’ ownership shares and then divides or sells the property accordingly (§ 64.051), and the accounting between co-owners for mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs and the value of exclusive use can be where much of the money is. Partition ordinarily follows the land under § 64.022, so a Hillsborough house is partitioned in Hillsborough even if the estate is open elsewhere. If the dispute concerns a personal representative’s sale of estate property, review the estate proceeding and the representative’s authority first. See the Florida partition action page and the guide for siblings who disagree about selling the family home. For questions about who inherits real property by survivorship, see Florida right of survivorship.

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Can a guardianship tied to the estate be contested?

In Hillsborough, the Thirteenth Circuit’s former Elder Justice Center became Guardianship Case Management in 2025. The program supports the court by reviewing guardianship plans and accountings, and its case managers may be appointed as court monitors. For an estate dispute, its importance is the record it helps create. The official program page explains its role. The program assists the court; it does not act as anyone’s private attorney, and a report from it does not by itself establish that wrongdoing occurred.

If a guardianship preceded the death, identify that case separately: its case number, the guardian, the annual plans and accountings, and any monitor report. Access restrictions, admissibility and the meaning of a particular record still require review. Contested guardianship moves on its own timetable, with an examining committee, a hearing on capacity and, in urgent cases, a petition for an emergency temporary guardian, and it is also the proceeding in which exploitation that is happening now can be addressed, as opposed to recovered after death. The firm’s Florida guardianship litigation practice handles these disputes, and the Florida guardianship guide explains the proceeding.

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Hillsborough courts: venue, divisions and records

See the chart “County first, then division: how a Hillsborough estate dispute reaches a courtroom”

Venue: the county comes first

For probate of wills and granting letters, § 733.101 starts with the decedent’s Florida domicile. If there was no Florida domicile, the statute next looks to property in the state and, if there was neither, a debtor’s county of residence. A Tampa mailing address, a hospital stay, a beneficiary’s home or one disputed property nearby does not by itself select the county for every dispute. “Tampa Bay” is a region, not a filing location: Hillsborough is the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (the 13th Judicial Circuit); Pinellas and Pasco are in the Sixth; Hernando is in the Fifth; Polk is in the Tenth; Manatee is in the Twelfth (Florida trial courts directory). A parent domiciled in Wesley Chapel or New Port Richey at death is a Pasco estate, a parent domiciled in Spring Hill or Brooksville is a Hernando estate, and a parent domiciled in Lakeland is a Polk estate, even if the family thinks of itself as being in the Tampa area. Trust venue has separate alternatives under § 736.0204, and partition ordinarily follows the land under § 64.022, so a dispute that spans a will, a trust and a house may need more than one venue analysis. For a Pinellas estate, see Pinellas County probate litigation.

Tampa divisions and the East Division in Plant City

Administrative Order S-2024-013 directs the Clerk to assign proceedings under the Florida Probate Code (chapters 731 through 735) to Probate, Guardianship, Mental Health and Trust Divisions “A” and “B” on a 5:3 ratio, unless the decedent was domiciled within the East Division boundaries; those cases go to East Circuit Divisions “O,” “U” and “W” by random equitable distribution. Administrative Order S-2024-079 defines the East Division by boundary roads in the eastern part of the county and locates the East Divisions in the Plant City Courthouse. Whether an address in Brandon, Valrico, Seffner, Dover, Thonotosassa, Lithia or FishHawk falls inside depends on those boundary roads, so a community name alone does not answer the question; Plant City estates generally sit within it. Trust Code proceedings use a different connection under Administrative Order S-2024-017: the trustee’s usual place of business or, if none, residence. Independent torts filed by or against a personal representative, beneficiary or interested person, and actions by or against a trustee that do not arise under chapter 736, are assigned to the Circuit Civil Division, and consolidating one of those with a probate or trust case is disfavored unless any jury-trial right in the civil action has been waived by all parties. The current orders are listed in the court’s administrative order index.

Addresses from the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s contact and court locations page and the Hillsborough Clerk’s probate page. These are court locations, not Lorenzo Law offices. Clerk and court details checked October 24, 2026.

How hearings are set in Hillsborough probate

Filing a document does not itself schedule a hearing, and a clerk’s filing counter is not necessarily where your hearing will occur. Under AO S-2024-013, attorneys obtain hearing time through the Judicial Automated Workflow System (JAWS) or by e-mailing the judicial assistant at the division’s address; a notice of hearing must state the length of time reserved and specify the matters to be heard, and a notice for “all pending motions” is not authorized. A petition or motion set for hearing must be filed at least five days before the hearing. The court does not provide court reporters, so a party who wants a record, including for a possible appeal, must arrange one. An emergency application goes to the presiding judge of the assigned division and, unless all interested persons agree, may not be heard on less than 48 hours’ actual notice. After a ruling, counsel generally must confer on the proposed order within five days and submit it within ten. Reassignment after a disqualification follows the order’s own sequence. Save the full case number, division, assigned judge, scheduling orders and hearing notice together, and confirm the judge’s current procedures and any remote-appearance instructions before relying on any of them.

Hillsborough records: HOVER, the Clerk and Official Records

The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court and Comptroller makes many court records, indexes, dockets and non-confidential document images available through HOVER (Hillsborough Online Viewing of Electronic Records), and publishes a list of probate cases filed in the past 30 days. Probate files are handled differently from ordinary civil files: the Clerk explains that Florida law prohibits placing an image or copy of a probate file on a publicly available website for general display, so the online docket may show a filing whose image you cannot open, and a missing online image does not establish that a document was never filed. A person authorized to see a file can view it or pick up a copy at the Clerk’s Tampa Edgecomb or Plant City locations. The Clerk says redaction processing may take four business days; confirm availability before visiting. Inventories and accountings filed in an estate are confidential and may be viewed only by the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney or an interested person. Deeds and other land records are in the Clerk’s Official Records, a separate collection, and the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s entry is a pointer, not the deed. Attorneys file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. For forms, fees, case lookups and filing mechanics, see the Hillsborough County probate court guide and the Clerk’s probate, guardianship and trust page; this page covers what a contested case adds.

Depositing an original will in Hillsborough

Under § 732.901, the custodian of a will must deposit it with the clerk having venue within ten days after receiving information that the testator has died. The Hillsborough Clerk requires the original will, accompanied by an Acknowledgement of Venue form; lists no fee for the deposit; and publishes its mailing address as P.O. Box 3360, Tampa, FL 33601. Confirm current delivery instructions before sending an original. The Clerk does not hold wills for safekeeping while the maker is alive, and redacted wills on deposit remain available for public viewing for 20 years from the date of filing. Depositing a will alone does not open administration, contest the will or preserve every objection; the statute separately provides a process to compel production and possible consequences for an unjustified failure to deposit.

Where do Hillsborough probate appeals go?

An appeal from a Hillsborough probate order goes to the Second District Court of Appeal, which serves the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (§ 35.03); Pinellas and Pasco appeals go there too. A Polk estate is different: the Tenth Circuit is in the Sixth Appellate District (§ 35.044). Whether a particular probate order is appealable, the deadline, preservation of error and the adequacy of the record each require separate analysis, and because the court does not provide a court reporter, an appellate court reviewing a factual finding without a transcript will ordinarily affirm. Appealing a will, strictly speaking, means appealing the court’s order admitting it to probate, revoking probate or deciding a contest; the will itself is not appealed. Appeals are evaluated on the actual order and the actual record.

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What happens in a Tampa probate lawsuit?

See the chart “The stages of a contested estate case in Hillsborough County”

A probate contest does not automatically halt all administration. Section 733.109 allows administration to continue during a revocation proceeding, subject to its distribution protection, and counsel should assess whether a specific request is needed to protect the interest at risk. The appropriate sequence depends on what has already happened in the case.

How long does a contested probate case take?

Timing depends on the work the dispute requires: if a will is contested, how long it takes to resolve cannot be given as a date on the first call. A dispute resolved after focused document review differs from one requiring multiple depositions, expert testimony, contested hearings or an appeal. The number of parties, access to records, disputed transactions, expert needs, discovery and the assigned division’s calendar all affect duration and expense. The firm discusses the proposed stages and their uncertainties after reviewing the facts and gives a range for the first phase; no completion date is promised, and a preliminary conversation cannot reliably establish the outcome or the full cost of a contested case.

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Defending a will, trust or fiduciary

Defending a will contest means expecting the challenger to test every step of the signing. Evidence a defense may rely on is affirmative: independent counsel the decedent chose 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. Because the burden can shift once the elements of the undue influence presumption are established, a defense assembled late is a weaker defense.

If you have been accused, 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 argue the accusation directly to the other beneficiaries. If you are a personal representative or trustee, this does not suspend the disclosures the law still requires of you — a trustee must keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed and provide accountings (§ 736.0813), and a personal representative must serve the inventory and the accountings (Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 and 5.346) — so continue those required communications through your counsel, and keep them separate from any informal defense of the accusation. A personal representative or trustee should bring the petition or demand, the accountings and the records of the challenged decision, and should identify whether advice is sought in the fiduciary capacity, personally, or both. A beneficiary accused of procurement and the personal representative administering the will may have different interests, and the firm identifies whom it would represent before any engagement.

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What does probate litigation cost, and who pays?

The cost of contesting a will depends on the claim: a handwriting dispute needs different evidence from a capacity challenge, and a fiduciary accounting claim needs transaction analysis rather than medical testimony. How the other side litigates can change the cost substantially, and neither party controls it. The cost of challenging a will also includes court reporting, which in Hillsborough the parties arrange, expert fees and other litigation expenses, and routine probate administration pricing is not a quote for contested litigation. Florida probate is not a pure each-side-pays system: several provisions can shift fees, none of them automatically, and the exposure can run in more than one direction.

How much should a probate lawyer cost in Florida? For administration without a dispute, § 733.6171 sets a presumptively reasonable attorney’s fee schedule for ordinary services, based on the estate’s inventory value and income, with separate compensation possible for extraordinary services; contested litigation is not priced by that schedule and is billed for the work it requires under the written agreement. How much does it cost to sue an estate? A creditor’s first step is a claim filed within the creditor period (§ 733.702), not a lawsuit; if the personal representative objects, the creditor must bring an independent action within the time set by § 733.705, and the cost then follows that action like any other civil case. A beneficiary or heir who wants to “sue the estate” is usually petitioning in the estate case about the personal representative’s conduct, and the cost drivers above apply.

Do you take probate litigation on contingency?

Sometimes. Depending on the matter, the firm may consider hourly fees, a fee for a defined task, or an appropriate contingency or hybrid arrangement; no arrangement is promised before individual evaluation. With a contingency arrangement, the client may remain responsible for costs and expenses even if there is no recovery, and a hybrid arrangement may include fees payable regardless of outcome. Ask what the agreement covers, who advances expenses and what happens if additional proceedings become necessary. How much does it cost to remove an executor, and how long does it take? 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. A family that believes it needs a contingency attorney for inheritance theft, such as money taken by an agent under a power of attorney or by a relative before or after death, can ask at the initial consultation; the same case-by-case evaluation applies, and the claim may belong to the estate or a trust rather than to an individual heir (see money taken before death).

Weighing whether to litigate

How do you successfully contest a will? There is no tactic that substitutes for evidence: a contest needs to connect a recognized ground to contemporaneous records, be brought by someone with standing, and be filed inside the deadline. Protesting a will because the result feels unfair, without that evidence, can cost more than it recovers. Is it worth contesting a will in Florida, and how often does a contested will win? No general statistic can answer that for a particular estate. Whether a contest is worth bringing depends on evidence tied to a recognized ground, standing, the deadline and the cost compared with what is at stake; a changed plan, a family conflict or a large estate does not by itself make a contest stronger. 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. Can siblings agree to divide an inheritance differently than the will provides? Generally yes: under § 733.815, interested persons may agree among themselves in a written contract to alter their interests, shares or amounts, and the personal representative must abide by it, subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities; the tax consequences need separate review. An agreement under § 733.815 binds only the interested persons who sign it; the personal representative must still administer the estate for the benefit of anyone who is not a party. A minor’s or an incapacitated beneficiary’s share is not altered unless that beneficiary’s interest is properly represented in the agreement by a guardian or other authorized representative. Where the difference is small, a negotiated family settlement agreement is often the better tool; where it is large, the case deserves a serious look. Potential recovery and adverse fee exposure are discussed together before any decision to litigate.

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What to gather before the consultation

1. Every notice and court paper. The entire document, attachments, envelope, delivery record, e-mail and any signed waiver, for estate, trust and guardianship cases alike. Note when and how each item was delivered and whether a hearing is already set.
2. The estate identity. The decedent’s full name, date of death, domicile at death, the county, case number and assigned division (for example, Division A or B in Tampa, or an East Division in Plant City), and the personal representative’s name, if known.
3. People and roles. The names of the fiduciaries, beneficiaries, involved lawyers and other parties; your relationship; and the interest you want protected.
4. The disputed instruments. Wills, codicils, trusts, amendments, deeds, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations, including earlier versions. Keep originals intact and work from copies.
5. The transaction trail. Statements, checks, transfer records, sales contracts, inventories and accountings lawfully available to you. Record dates and amounts rather than conclusions about intent.
6. A short chronology. A dated sequence of document signing, illness, transfers and communications. Separate what you personally observed from what someone reported, and list who can describe each event.
7. Your objective. Whether you want information, to defend an instrument, to stop a pending transaction, to change a fiduciary, to recover a particular asset or to resolve a co-ownership dispute.

Preserve complete messages and files rather than cropped screenshots. Do not access someone else’s account without authority or alter original documents. Medical records, financial records and a drafting attorney’s file may require consent, a subpoena, a court order or other lawful process; they are not automatically available to every family member. Do not post sensitive records publicly or put full account numbers, medical records or identifying numbers in a first general contact message: identify the matter, the deadline and the parties first, then ask how to provide documents securely.

Keep a separate notice log

For each notice or court paper, record its exact title, sender, recipient, delivery method, the date it was sent, the date it was received or served, any waiver and the date it was filed, and any stated response or hearing date. Keep evidence of delivery even if you are unsure whether it was legally effective service. The date printed on an envelope alone does not establish every deadline. Service, sending, receipt and the filing of a waiver can have different legal effects, and a lawyer can identify which missing records matter after reviewing the actual notice and the Hillsborough docket.

Mistakes that can cost a probate dispute

What are the common mistakes in probate disputes? The ones that cannot be undone come first: letting an objection period run while gathering records, signing a waiver or receipt without understanding what it releases, assuming the estate’s lawyer represents you, confronting the other side before records are preserved, and moving or altering original documents. Others raise the cost rather than end a claim: treating a personal grievance as a legal ground, bringing a will contest when the property passed by deed or beneficiary designation, and pursuing in your own name a claim that belongs to the estate. Each of these is covered above, and the notice log and the document list are the practical guard against them.

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Situations that bring Tampa families to a probate litigator

A family dispute over inheritance, a family dispute over an estate or over a will, a sibling inheritance conflict or any other inheritance conflict is sorted by the same questions: who has standing, which document or conduct is challenged, and which deadline applies. Disputes over wills and inheritance are not resolved by contesting inheritance as such; the challenge is to an instrument, a transfer or a fiduciary’s conduct.

Why do siblings fight over inheritance? Disputes can start with unequal treatment in a late plan, one sibling acting as caregiver, agent or personal representative, the family home, and information one side has and the other does not. The legal question is narrower than the family one: which document, transfer or decision is challenged, by whom, and by when.

A parent left everything to a caregiver

Whether the parent lived at home in Carrollwood or in a retirement community such as Sun City Center, a caregiver who becomes a substantial beneficiary raises the classic undue influence question, and it is evaluated, not assumed. The elements and 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. Facility and agency records, visitor logs and shift notes can be decisive and are not kept indefinitely, so preservation comes first.

A sibling used a power of attorney for their own benefit

Checks written to the agent, new joint accounts naming the agent, gifts the document did not authorize and real property deeded to the agent are the patterns that bring families to counsel. Separate before death from after death, because the claims and the proper plaintiff differ, as described under money taken before death. Where the sibling is also the personal representative, the conflict itself may be the first issue.

A stepparent received everything

Second-marriage estates raise several distinct questions at once: the homestead devise restriction; the elective share, if you are the spouse rather than the child; survivorship and beneficiary designations changed late in life; and an undue influence challenge to a plan signed 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.

Heirs who live out of state

A Hillsborough estate may involve a parent who retired to Florida and children who live elsewhere, or a Tampa heir whose parent died in another state. The Florida estate is still heard where the decedent was domiciled, notices still run from service, and a nonresident who wants to serve as personal representative faces separate qualification rules (see out-of-state executors in Florida). Phone or video consultations mean an out-of-state heir does not need to travel for the first conversation, although a party or witness may still be required to attend a deposition, hearing or trial.

Siblings who disagree about the family home

A house bought decades ago in South Tampa, Seminole Heights or Temple Terrace may now be the largest asset in the estate. One sibling wants to keep it, another wants it sold, and a third is living in it. Ownership comes first (deed, homestead status and the will), then the personal representative’s authority to sell, then partition and the accounting between co-owners if they own it together; see inherited property and partition.

The personal representative has gone silent

Put the demand in writing and ask specifically for the inventory and the accounting. 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 executor disputes.

The will was changed shortly before death

People do legitimately revise their plans near the end of life. 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 the records reviewed, not a verdict.

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One attorney from first call to resolution

Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. is a Florida attorney admitted on October 4, 2013, Florida Bar No. 107002. Before admission he served as a third-year law student judicial intern with the Honorable Maria M. Korvick. His practice includes estate planning, probate and trust administration, and disputes involving estates, trusts, guardianships and deeds, as well as partition actions. Clients work directly with Jose on matters he handles.

Comparing probate litigation attorneys in Tampa? Ask each lawyer the same questions: what would you do first on my facts, who will take the depositions and argue the hearing, what would it realistically cost to see this through, and which fee-shifting provisions apply to me. Whether you search for probate litigation lawyers near me, probate lawyers near me, probate lawyers in Tampa or an estate litigation law firm, use the same questions to compare solo practices and multi-attorney firms. Knowing how to find a good estate litigation lawyer starts with understanding who will handle your matter, the proposed work and the fee terms.

The principal office is in Kissimmee, Florida, with meetings by appointment in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale. This page describes representation for Hillsborough County matters, including Tampa (South Tampa, Hyde Park, Palma Ceia, Davis Islands, Harbour Island, Downtown Tampa, Westchase, Town ‘n’ Country, Carrollwood, New Tampa, Seminole Heights and Ybor City), Temple Terrace, Brandon, Riverview, Valrico, Seffner, FishHawk and Lithia, Plant City, Lutz, Apollo Beach, Ruskin and Sun City Center; it does not identify a Tampa office.

A question people ask before a first call is what not to tell the attorney. The better approach is the reverse: tell the attorney the facts that hurt as well as the ones that help, including any waiver you signed, any money you received and any deadline you think may have passed, because advice built on half the facts is unreliable. Legal advice on contesting a will depends on your documents and your deadline, so general advice on contesting a will, including this page, is not a substitute for review of your own facts. Identify the other parties first, so conflicts can be checked before you share private details.

If you are planning your own estate and want to know how to prevent your family from contesting your will, that is a planning question rather than a litigation one; see Florida estate planning.

¿Prefiere español? Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. atiende consultas en español, por teléfono o video, sobre herencias, cómo impugnar un testamento en Florida y disputas sucesorias en el condado de Hillsborough. Vea impugnar un testamento en Florida, abogado de herencias en Tampa y abogado de herencias en Ybor City.

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Common questions about Tampa probate litigation

How hard is it to contest a will in Florida?

How hard it is to win a contested will 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 undue influence presumption, once its elements are established, is an important structural advantage the law gives a challenger. The deadline question comes first: 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.

How much does it cost to contest a will in Florida?

The cost of hiring a lawyer to contest a will in Florida depends on the records, depositions, experts, number of parties, mediation and whether the matter goes to a hearing or trial; no fixed figure can be given before review. Only the initial consultation is free, and representation fees and costs are agreed separately in writing. Fee-shifting provisions such as § 733.106 and § 733.609 can apply, but entitlement, reasonableness and the source of payment require separate analysis, and an unsuccessful contest ordinarily cannot be paid from estate funds. Do not assume the estate or the opposing party will pay your lawyer.

What is the 10-day rule for probate in Florida?

It usually refers to the duty of a person holding an original will to deposit it. Section 732.901 requires the custodian to deposit the will with the clerk having venue within ten days (the 10 days that give the rule its name) after receiving information that the testator has died, supplying the date of death or the last four digits of the testator’s Social Security number. The ten days run from receiving information of the death, not automatically from the date of death. For a Hillsborough decedent, that is the Hillsborough Clerk, which requires the original and an Acknowledgement of Venue form. Depositing a will alone does not commence administration or challenge its validity, and it does not start a will contest.

Where is a contested Hillsborough probate case heard?

In the division the Clerk assigns, not in a single room for every case. Under Administrative Order S-2024-013, probate cases go to Probate, Guardianship, Mental Health and Trust Division A or B in Tampa, or, if the decedent was domiciled within the East Division boundaries, to East Circuit Division O, U or W at the Plant City Courthouse; trust cases follow the trustee’s usual place of business or, if none, residence, and independent tort claims go to the Circuit Civil Division. The hearing notice and the assigned judge’s instructions say where, and whether remote attendance is permitted. Not every contested Tampa case is heard in Room 204 at the Edgecomb Courthouse; assignment works by division, and a clerk’s filing location or mailing address is not necessarily where a hearing occurs.

How do I look up a Hillsborough County probate case?

Search HOVER, the Hillsborough Clerk’s online records system, by the decedent’s name or the case number. The docket shows filings, orders and the assigned division, but Florida law keeps probate document images off the general public website, and inventories and accountings are confidential to the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney and interested persons, so not every document is viewable online. An authorized person can view or obtain copies at the Clerk’s Tampa Edgecomb or Plant City locations. Deeds are in the Clerk’s Official Records, a separate collection. The Hillsborough County probate court guide covers the mechanics.

Do you need a lawyer to contest a will in Florida?

An individual may represent himself or herself, but a self-represented party is held to the same deadlines, rules of procedure and rules of evidence as a represented one, and a personal representative in a formal administration generally needs a lawyer. Contesting a will without an attorney means learning the notice deadlines, the probate rules, the local hearing procedures and the evidence code at once, usually while the other side is represented.

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

No. Probate issues are tried by the court without a jury, so a Hillsborough will contest is prepared for the judge of the assigned division. A separate civil action, such as a claim about a trust, a deed or tortious interference with an expected inheritance, follows the Rules of Civil Procedure and can carry a jury right; in Hillsborough, an independent tort and a trustee action that does not arise under the Trust Code are assigned to the Circuit Civil Division.

What happens if a will contest succeeds?

Probate of the will, or of the part procured by fraud, duress, mistake or undue influence, is revoked, and the property passes under whatever valid instrument remains or, if none, by intestacy. Invalidating one will does not automatically prove that a particular earlier will governs; each instrument and each revocation is evaluated. A successful contest does not undo deeds, trusts, joint accounts or beneficiary designations, which pass outside the will, and the statute protects a good-faith purchaser who bought estate property before the order of revocation. Fees and costs are decided under the statutes described above, not automatically in the winner’s favor.

Will a Tampa probate dispute go to mediation?

Usually, before a final hearing, a contested estate is ordered to or agrees to mediation, and family disputes can be resolved there. Mediation is a negotiation, not a decision: a settlement is weighed against the evidence, the relief realistically available, the cost of going forward, the people whose rights it affects, any required court approval and how it will be enforced. Preparing for mediation means having the documents and the deadline analysis ready, not postponing them.

Does Lorenzo Law handle estate disputes in Brandon, Riverview and Plant City?

Yes. Lorenzo Law handles probate and trust disputes for Hillsborough County matters, including Brandon, Riverview, Valrico, Plant City, Temple Terrace, Lutz and the Tampa neighborhoods, by phone or video and without a Tampa office. Where in the county the decedent was domiciled can decide whether the case sits in a Tampa division or an East Division in Plant City, which is one more reason to bring the case number and the hearing notice to the first call. Only the initial consultation is free; representation fees and costs are agreed separately in writing.

What if the estate is in Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Hernando or Manatee County?

Lorenzo Law handles it too. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. represents clients statewide, so a contested estate in Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Hernando or Manatee County is handled the same way as a Hillsborough one, by phone or video and without an office in that county. What changes is the court: Pinellas and Pasco are in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Hernando is in the Fifth, Polk is in the Tenth and Manatee is in the Twelfth, each with its own courthouses and local procedures, and the decedent’s domicile at death generally decides the county. The same Florida law on standing, notices, grounds and fiduciary duties applies. For a Pinellas estate, see Pinellas County probate litigation; for other counties, see Florida probate service areas.

Can the consultation be in Spanish?

Yes. Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. consults in English and Spanish, by phone or video. Spanish-language information about inheritance in the Tampa area is available on the abogado de herencias en Tampa page. Mention any notice, hearing date or proposed distribution when you first contact the firm.

Discuss your Tampa probate dispute with Lorenzo Law

Jose M. Lorenzo, Jr. is a Florida attorney, Bar No. 107002, and Lorenzo Law’s sole attorney. As a Tampa probate litigation attorney by practice rather than by office, he represents beneficiaries, heirs, spouses and fiduciaries across Hillsborough County, and the attorney you speak with at the first call is the attorney who handles any matter the firm accepts.

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 Florida probate litigation; for a dispute centered on a trust, Florida trust litigation; for inheritance questions generally, the Florida inheritance lawyer page; for an estate with no dispute, the Tampa probate lawyer page; for a deed of your own, the Tampa Lady Bird deed page; and for a plan of your own, Florida estate planning. Across the bay, see Pinellas County probate litigation.

This page provides general information about Florida law, not legal advice for a particular matter. The appropriate action depends on the documents, facts, applicable law and court orders. Reading it or submitting an inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship or pause a deadline.

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 instructions control. Case citations are provided for the propositions stated and should be read in full.