Also known as: decedents' estates · decedent estate · decedents estate · estate of decedent · probate estate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An aggregate of property interests owned by a person at death that passes to heirs or devisees subject to administration by a personal representative.
Dominic Drake died owning the family home subject to a constitutional homestead right. His surviving spouse Delilah Duran received the homestead interest and also claimed the statutory homestead allowance. The probate court charged the value of the constitutional homestead against her allowance because the home formed part of the decedent's estate.
Destiny Davis created a revocable trust holding investment accounts. After her death the probate estate lacked sufficient assets to pay funeral expenses and a surviving child's statutory allowance. The court subjected the trust property to those claims because the trust remained revocable at death.
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Derek Douglas intentionally killed his father Daniel Diaz. Derek stood to inherit an intestate share and homestead allowance from the decedent's estate. The court barred Derek from any interest and directed the estate to pass as if Derek had disclaimed his share.
Dolores Diaz created a trust by will. The estate remained open in the county where Dolores died. A beneficiary filed a proceeding to appoint a successor trustee. The court placed venue in the county administering the decedent's estate.
A wife died leaving pension benefits acquired during marriage. Her will attempted to devise half the benefits to her children. The surviving spouse claimed the benefits under federal plan rules. The court held that federal law preempted any state community property claim against the decedent's estate interest.
An Indian landowner died holding numerous small fractional interests in allotted lands. Federal restrictions prevented the interests from passing by will or intestacy outside the tribe. The estate could not freely alienate the interests without tribal approval and payment of fair market value.
Property in a trust revocable at the settlor's death becomes subject to estate creditors, administration costs, funeral expenses, and statutory allowances to the extent the probate estate cannot satisfy those obligations.
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An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent forfeits every benefit under the probate code, including intestate shares, homestead allowances, and family allowances. The estate passes as though the killer had disclaimed the interest.
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Venue lies in the county where the trust's principal place of administration is located and, while the estate remains open, in the county where the decedent's estate is being administered.
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…challenged conduct. [^maj-31]: See also, e.g., Woods v. Nova Companies Belize Ltd. , 739 So. 2d 617, 620–621 (Fla. App. 1999) (estate of decedent killed in an overseas plane crash permitted to sue responsible Belizean corporate defendant in Florida courts, rather than Belizean courts, based on defendant’s continuous and systematic…