What Assets are Considered Exempt from Claims in a Florida Lawyer’s Probate Case?

Which assets are not subject to probate administration?
What assets are eligible for protection?

Which assets can be exempted in a probate estate handled by a legal firm in Florida, such as household furniture, furnishings, and appliances, valued at a maximum of $20,000 in the deceased person’s primary residence, two vehicles owned by the deceased person and regularly used by them or their immediate family, and some other specific property. If the deceased person’s will does not designate different beneficiaries for the exempt property, the surviving spouse has the right to claim it, but if there is no surviving spouse, the children of the deceased person are entitled to inherit it.

Property passing by contract includes life insurance proceeds, IRAs, and employee benefit plan proceeds, such as the proceeds payable under a pension, profit-sharing, or employee retirement plan. These assets pass outside the will to the individuals designated by the deceased in the appropriate beneficiary designations. Thus, it is important to periodically review the beneficiary designations with respect to these types of assets and to update them as necessary.
Property held by the deceased and another person as joint tenants with right of survivorship passes outside the will directly to the surviving person. Survivorship assets typically include certain types of bank accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks and bonds, and certain savings bonds issued by the United States Government, such as Series EE savings bonds.
All property held in a trust for the benefit of the deceased passes outside of probate. The trust may have been created by the deceased during their lifetime for property management purposes or by someone else, such as a parent of the deceased. Trust assets pass under the terms of the trust rather than under the terms of the deceased’s will.
It is important to determine the extent of one’s nonprobate assets when planning the disposition of one’s property at death. If a substantial portion of the assets are nonprobate assets that do not pass under the will, even a well-drafted will may be insufficient to carry out the testator’s intent in disposing of their property.

Almost all of your possessions can be safeguarded: money, shares, certificates of deposit, mutual funds, coverage plans, deferred payment contracts, immovable property, appliances, apparatus, patents, distinguishing marks along with other types of intangible assets, loans and promissory notes, etc. There are only a few exceptions that cannot be shielded by appropriate preparation.