Q: My Aunt recently passed in FL. No marriage or kids, I'm her next of kin. I am handling her funeral arrangements.
I am from AZ. How can I become her executor or power of attorney to be allowed to clear her estate & obtain some medical records? There was no will, her estate value seems to be around $1k.
I am funding her arrangements myself, cremation, marker, urn, etc.
I know she has a small bank account, trust money (165) held at her asst living.
Where do I begin? Is there any free legal help in FL?
Thks
A: Unfortunately there is not free help in Florida. There is a procedure for administration of small estates which basically involves sending the forms to the clerk and the Judge will enter an order distributing the assets to you. The clerk may have the forms available for download on their website. Search for the website for the clerk of court in the county in Florida where your aunt resided to see if they have the forms and instructions. If not I would suggest googling Disposition of Personal Property without Administration as contained in Florida Statutes 735.301-735.302. In this type of procedure there is no personal representative appointed, so you may not be able to get medical records under HIPAA, unless she had a document in effect that allowed you access to her medical records, such as a health care surrogate/living will. If you wanted to open a formal administration you would need to hire a Florida licensed attorney and the costs would far exceed the assets in the estate. Any power of attorney she had would have terminated upon her death.
A: I don't know why you want the medical records, but if it is to determine whether there are grounds for an action against a health care provider, you can normally find an attorney who might take the case on a contingent fee basis.
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