Disputes Among Heirs and Estate Litigation in Florida: A Palm Beach Probate Guide

Estate litigation in Florida is the contested side of probate: the lawsuits and formal objections that erupt when heirs, beneficiaries, or creditors disagree over a will’s validity, who should serve as personal representative, how assets are distributed, or whether the estate is being administered honestly. These disputes are litigated in the Florida circuit court’s probate division under the Florida Probate Code (Chapters 731 through 735, Florida Statutes), and almost every one of them is governed by a hard deadline. Miss the deadline and you usually lose the right to be heard, no matter how strong your claim.

I have handled Palm Beach County estates where a family that had been close for forty years stopped speaking the week after the funeral. The fight is rarely about the money in the abstract. It is about the last document a parent signed, the relative who moved in during the final illness, or the bank account that quietly changed hands. This article walks through how those fights actually unfold in Florida, where the leverage points are, and why creditors and claims so often sit at the center of the storm.

What Triggers Heir Disputes in a Florida Estate

Most estate litigation in Florida traces back to one of a few recurring fault lines. Knowing which category your conflict falls into tells you which statute controls and how much time you have.

• Will validity. A beneficiary or excluded heir believes the will is a product of undue influence, fraud, forgery, lack of capacity, or improper execution.
• Personal representative conduct. Heirs suspect the person running the estate is self-dealing, hiding assets, paying improper claims, or simply doing nothing for months.
• Asset characterization. Fights over whether a joint account, a beneficiary-designated annuity, or a deeded home is part of the probate estate at all.
• Creditor and claims disputes. Disagreements over which debts are legitimate, whether a claim was filed on time, and whether estate assets should be drained to pay it.
• Spousal and family rights. Elective share, homestead, exempt property, and family allowance claims that override what the will says.

These categories overlap constantly. A disinherited child who challenges the will is often also questioning a six-figure “loan” the favored sibling now wants the estate to repay. That is where the creditor angle and the heir dispute collide, and it is where careful Palm Beach estates get won or lost.

Will Contests and the Florida Burden of Proof

The most visible form of estate litigation is the will contest. Under Florida law, you cannot simply announce after probate closes that you object. If you receive a notice of administration, section 733.212, Florida Statutes, generally requires you to file any objection challenging the validity of the will, venue, or the court’s jurisdiction within three months of being served. That window is brutally firm. The statute says it may be extended only for estoppel based on a misstatement by the personal representative about the deadline itself, and not for failure to disclose information or other misconduct.

Who Has to Prove What

Section 733.107, Florida Statutes, sets the framework, and it surprises a lot of families. The proponent of the will (usually whoever filed it) first has the burden to establish prima facie that the will was formally executed and attested. A valid self-proving affidavit under section 732.503 does that on paper. Once that prima facie case is made, the burden shifts to the contestant to prove the grounds for invalidating the will: undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake, or lack of testamentary capacity.

The Undue Influence Presumption

Undue influence is the most litigated ground, and Florida gives contestants a powerful tool. Under section 733.107(2), if you show that a substantial beneficiary occupied a confidential relationship with the decedent and was active in procuring the will, a presumption of undue influence arises that shifts the burden of proof to the person defending the will. Florida courts have long looked at factors drawn from the In re Estate of Carpenter line of cases, such as whether the beneficiary was present when the will was signed, recommended the attorney, knew the contents in advance, or kept possession of the document. None of these is dispositive on its own. Together, they paint a picture a judge can act on.

This is meticulous, fact-intensive litigation. Medical records, the drafting attorney’s file, bank statements, and testimony from caregivers all matter. The mechanics of contesting a will and the available proceeding types differ by state, and it can help to see how a different jurisdiction frames the same questions. Morgan Legal’s overview of the illustrates how another large probate court structures the same core dispute, and their explanation of the shows why the form of administration changes a contestant’s strategy.

When the Personal Representative Becomes the Problem

Not every dispute is about the will itself. Often the will is fine and the fight is about the person enforcing it. A Florida personal representative is a fiduciary and owes the beneficiaries duties of loyalty, impartiality, and prudent administration. When those duties slip, heirs have remedies.

1. Petition to remove the personal representative under section 733.504, on grounds such as wasting estate assets, failure to comply with court orders, physical or mental incapacity, or a conflict of interest.
2. Compel an accounting and inventory. Beneficiaries are entitled to an inventory and, eventually, a final accounting; refusal to provide one is itself a basis for court intervention.
3. Surcharge actions to recover losses the fiduciary caused through breach of duty or improper payments.
4. Objections to the accounting when distributions, fees, or claim payments do not add up.

One recurring Palm Beach scenario: a personal representative who is also a beneficiary pays a questionable creditor claim from a friend or business partner, then distributes what is left. Beneficiaries who object too late may find the assets already gone. The lesson is to scrutinize the claims docket early, not after the final accounting lands.

Why Creditors and Claims Sit at the Heart of Florida Estate Disputes

Heirs tend to assume the inheritance fight is purely among family. In Florida, creditors frequently determine how much there is to fight over, and disputes over claims are a core species of estate litigation. The Probate Code builds a tight, two-layer deadline system that every heir and beneficiary should understand.

The Claims Deadlines That Control the Estate

• Section 733.702 generally bars a creditor’s claim unless it is filed within the later of three months after the first publication of the notice to creditors or thirty days after the creditor is served with that notice.
• Section 733.710 imposes an absolute outer bar: with narrow exceptions, no claim against the estate may be enforced more than two years after the decedent’s death, regardless of whether notice was ever published.

These deadlines create real leverage. A personal representative who fails to serve a “reasonably ascertainable” creditor can expose the estate to a late claim and even personal liability, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court flagged in Tulsa Professional Collection Services v. Pope. On the other side, a beneficiary watching a late or dubious claim come in can move to strike it as time-barred under 733.702 or 733.710. I have seen entire disputes resolve not on the merits of a debt but on the calendar.

Contesting and Defending Claims

When a claim is filed, the personal representative or any interested person may file a written objection. Once objected to, the creditor must file an independent action within thirty days or the claim is barred. This converts a probate dispute into a civil lawsuit and is a frequent flashpoint between heirs who want to preserve the estate and outsiders who want to be paid. If you believe a “loan to the family” or a late-arriving invoice is inflated or fabricated, the objection mechanism, not silence, is how you fight it. Our overview of how Florida probate works explains where the claims period fits in the broader timeline.

Spousal and Family Rights That Override the Will

Florida protects certain people regardless of what the will says, and these protections generate their own litigation. A surviving spouse can claim an elective share equal to 30 percent of the elective estate under sections 732.201 through 732.2155, which sweeps in many non-probate assets a decedent tried to move out of reach. Florida’s constitutional homestead protections can also defeat a devise that violates the restrictions on leaving the home to anyone other than a spouse or minor child. Add the family allowance and exempt property rights, and you have a layer of claims that can dramatically reshape distributions and trigger sharp disputes among heirs.

If a will purports to disinherit a spouse, or if the decedent retitled the homestead shortly before death, those are litigation flags. Reviewing the requirements for a valid Florida will early often reveals whether a document is even enforceable against these protections.

How Florida Estate Litigation Actually Proceeds

Contested probate matters move through familiar civil-litigation stages, compressed by probate deadlines. A typical path looks like this:

1. Timely objection or petition filed in the circuit court probate division, framing the dispute (will contest, removal, claim objection, elective share, and so on).
2. Discovery, including depositions of the drafting attorney, treating physicians, caregivers, and family members, plus document production of financial and medical records.
3. Mediation, which many Florida judges require. A large share of estate disputes settle here, often because the cost of trial would consume the very assets in dispute.
4. Trial before a probate judge, who decides validity, surcharge, and claim questions without a jury.
5. Appeal to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which covers Palm Beach County.

Settlement is usually the realistic goal. Family settlement agreements and stipulations can resolve a will contest, restructure distributions, and release fiduciaries, all with court approval. The art is negotiating from a position of strength built on the statutes and the evidence.

Protecting Your Position Before and During a Dispute

Whether you are an heir who senses something is wrong or a personal representative bracing for a challenge, a few principles consistently matter:

• Calendar every deadline immediately. The three-month objection window, the claims periods, and the two-year bar are not suggestions.
• Get the documents. The drafting attorney’s file and the medical records usually decide undue influence and capacity cases.
• Scrutinize the claims docket. Object to questionable creditor claims in writing and on time.
• Do not distribute prematurely. Personal representatives who pay out before claims and objections are resolved court personal liability.
• Engage counsel early. Most fatal mistakes in Florida estate litigation happen in the first ninety days.

Estate disputes are emotionally exhausting and legally technical at the same time. The families who come out best are the ones who treat the Probate Code’s deadlines as the framework, not an afterthought. If you are facing a contested estate in Palm Beach County, our firm focuses on the claims-and-creditor dimension that so often decides these cases. You can learn more about our broader or reach us directly through our contact page to discuss your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

If you are served with a notice of administration, section 733.212, Florida Statutes, generally gives you three months from the date of service to file an objection challenging the will’s validity, venue, or the court’s jurisdiction. That deadline is rarely extendable, so act immediately once you receive notice.

What is the presumption of undue influence in Florida?

Under section 733.107(2), Florida Statutes, if a substantial beneficiary had a confidential relationship with the decedent and was active in procuring the will, a presumption of undue influence arises. That presumption shifts the burden of proof to the person defending the will, making it a powerful tool for contestants who can establish those threshold facts.

Can creditors take estate assets away from the heirs?

Yes. Valid creditor claims are generally paid before heirs receive anything. Creditors must file within the later of three months after first publication of the notice to creditors or thirty days after direct service (section 733.702), subject to an absolute two-year bar from the date of death (section 733.710). Heirs can object to late or improper claims to protect the estate.

Can the personal representative of a Florida estate be removed?

Yes. Under section 733.504, Florida Statutes, a court can remove a personal representative for grounds such as wasting estate assets, conflict of interest, failure to comply with court orders, or incapacity. Beneficiaries can also compel an accounting and pursue a surcharge action to recover losses caused by a breach of fiduciary duty.

Does estate litigation in Florida go to a jury?

No. Contested probate matters in Florida, including will contests, removal petitions, and claim disputes, are decided by a probate judge in the circuit court’s probate division. Most cases are referred to mediation first, and a large share settle before trial.