Formal Notice in Florida Probate
In Florida probate administration, the probate rules permit the use of "Formal Notice" to notify beneficiaries and other interested persons of a specific action or request that has been made to the probate court. When an interested person petitions the Florida probate court, the interested person send the formal notice to all persons who may be effected by what is being requested. The persons receiving the formal notice then have 20 days from the receipt of the formal notice to respond to the court if there is disagreement of objection to what is being requested.
Formal notice is sent, according to the Florida Probate Code, via certified mail to each interested person. This is unlike how most relief is sought in most courts, where normally a summons must be formally served on the persons effected by litigation.
Examples of relief requested from a Florida probate court for which formal notice needs to be served, or may be served, include the following:
- Petition for Administration
- Petition to Construe Will
- Petition to Probate Lost Will
- Petition to Determine Beneficiaries
- Petition to Remove Personal Representative
- Petition to Surcharge Personal Representative
- Petition to Cancel a Devise
- Petition to Revoke Probate of Will
Even though, in most jurisdictions in Florida, the probate court hears both probate and trust disputes, the formal notice rules apply only in probate matters. Trust proceedings must be initiated and served through the normal Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
