(727) 461-1111 (Pinellas County) | (813) 223-5847 (Hillsborough County)
Chuck Sullivan has been certified as a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Chuck is also a life member of the MillionDollar Advocates Forum, the most prestigious group of trial lawyers in the U.S. Fewer than 1% of U.S. Lawyers are members…MORE Phil Dragonetti Phil is a Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer. Less than 1% of the over […]
No, not usually for probate. Unless a dispute requires a hearing, neither the personal representative nor the estate attorney will actually go to court in Florida. There is no “reading of the will” like you see in old movies. Everything can be done by mail, email, phone, and fax. Florida law requires that virtually all […]
First, be sure there is no will. Just because you do not quickly find a will does not mean there is not one in a safety deposit box or hidden with other papers. However, if the decedent stated before death that he or she had no will, then you can be fairly sure there was […]
Technically, yes, but practically, no. Like many states, Florida imposes an estate tax only on those estates which are taxable under federal estate tax law and only to the extent that state estate taxes reduce federal taxes. In other words, if Florida did not impose this tax, the federal government would get that money, so […]
No, very small estates without real property may qualify for “disposition without administration,” and some estates may qualify for summary administration which is a faster and less expensive form of probate administration. Because Florida’s homestead definition allows unlimited value (but not unlimited acreage), some estates with very expensive homestead property (principal residence), but little else […]
Florida law allows twelve months to complete a formal estate administration. However, unless there are complications or disputes, most nontaxable estates take between four and six months for formal administration, but just a matter of weeks for summary administration. Taxable estates cannot close until the IRS signs off on the Estate 706 Tax Return, which […]
A 30 day “hard” suspension (90 days for a refusal) begins either after the first 10 days following the arrest, or after the initial hardship permit expires after the formal review hearing. During the “hard suspension” you may not drive for any purpose. On a first DUI, after the hard suspension runs, you may apply […]
Yes. If your attorney requests a review of the suspension within 10 days, the Department of Motor Vehicles will grant you a hardship permit (if you are otherwise eligible) that will be valid until approximately a week after the hearing.
A DUI can cause both the Department of Motor Vehicles and the court to suspend your driver’s license. If the results of your breath test were .08 or above or if you refused to take the Breathalyzer test, the Department of Motor Vehicles will attempt to suspend your license starting 10 days after your arrest. […]
At a formal review hearing, your attorney will contest the suspension and try to uncover any mistakes made by the officers that will invalidate the suspension. The hearing also enables your attorney to question the officers to determine if any of your Constitutional rights were violated which also may lead to an invalidation of the […]
