Q: Can & should I add an asset to a probate case that is in summary administration in Florida? Is it worth it financially?
My father’s wife’s attorney filed probate (summary administration) in Florida. My 2 siblings & I are not a party because we did not sign joinder & waiver as did not trust our father’s wife. So I’m an heir but not a party on the case. I know there is a stock worth around 9k which was solely in my father’s name with no beneficiary. It was not listed on the petition. They filed in March 2018 & are dragging their feet. My dad died in May 2017. Will was done in another state, not self proved. Then Atty didn’t send right info to self prove the will. Can I send something to court to add stock to probate? Estate will then be about 50k. Dad’s wife doesn’t care most likely. She got most of dads estate already (est 1 mil). my father had dementia. Don’t know if will will be self proved. Don’t know If it’s worth it financially to add the 9k. Wife gets dividends so knows about this stock. Wife gets 50% of estate per will. Should we have an attorney file whatever needs to be filed to add this 9k?
A: If you are due half of $9,000, and it's just a matter of the PR liquidating the stock and distributing it to you, sure: go for it.
A:
I recommend that you contact the attorney who filed the summary administration and let them know about the stock. That attorney can then file an amended petition for summary administration, list the additional asset, and ask the court to sign an amended order of summary administration.
Another option would be for you to hire an attorney to file the amended petition and submit a proposed amended order. You are an interested party in this case, as you are a devisee named in the will, even if you did not sign the joinder to the wife's petition. You do not need an attorney to represent you as a beneficiary unless you want one. You can contact the wife's attorney directly because you are an unrepresented party and provide them with the asset information.
Either you or her attorney can file the amended petition and seek the amended order if the order has already been signed. If the order has already been signed, there may be a $50 reopen fee to reopen the case when the amended petition is filed. If the order has not yet been signed, there would not be a reopen fee, but someone still needs to file an amended petition listing the asset. It may be much more cost effective, however, to contact the attorney who opened the estate and provide him or her with the stock information and ask that the petition be amended, etc.
Another option that has worked very well for me in the past is to include language devising the residuary, even if there is no known residuary, so that if another asset shows up, you can still use the order for the additional asset. That would involve adding the language "rest, residue, and remainder of estate" to each person's share in whatever fraction they are to receive of the other assets. When this language is added to the petition and to the order, then the order can be used in future when other assets are found.
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