Q: My elderly parents cannot find their legal papers. The estate lawyer was Mowl. We can't find him. Can you help?
My elderly parents cannot find their legal papers...trust and living will... The Melbourne, FL lawyer who created them over 20 years ago was Mowl. But we can't find a listing for him anywhere. Can you help? Was he in a certain firm that might have retained their papers? Would the papers be filed with the state? Any advice would be appreciated. THANK YOU!!
A: You should start by contacting the Florida State Bar as they can often help you in this regard, when an attorney leaves the practice of law, they usually should have a new referring attorney for their clients and papers, the Florida Bar would be a good place to start. Any papers he may have had should have been turned over to the new firm or lawyer taking over his business/clients. Also, there is no registry for Wills or Trusts in Florida, a Will is not turned in to the clerk of the court until a person passes away. If you cannot find these estate planning documents and papers then you likely will need a new attorney to create new estate planning documents.. I will also add, it is usually uncommon for an attorney to retain all the originals, copies surely, but all originals should be turned over to the client for safe keeping with their papers or in a safe or in a safe deposit box or similar. Your best starting point would be the Florida Bar to try to track the previous attorney down or his or her successor.
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