Q: My sister died a few weeks ago and she was buying some property and I was living with her helping her pay the payments
She told everyone before she died that it was going to be left to me but the property is in her name how do I go about switching it in my name and make the payments where she left off and how would I go about getting power of attorney to handle her legal paperwork?
A: Very sorry for your loss and the passing of your sister, please accept my condolences. You will need to contact a Florida Probate Attorney. There is no power of attorney after death as any power of attorney ends at death. If there is no Will, then the Florida Intestate Statutes (without a will) are going to apply. There is no switching anything to anyone's name because she said something verbally at some point. A probate has to be commenced, based on the type of assets and their value will determine the type of probate. If the property is a Homestead, then a specific additional petition has to be filed "Petition to Determine Homestead", if it was her homestead, it is additionally possible to take over the payments. If no Will is produced and the deed of the property does not specify the next owner through survivorship, then it all goes through probate. You really are going to need to speak with a probate attorney because all of your current assumptions on how the probate process and transfer of property is undertaken is misguided and incorrect.
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