Florida Probate & Trust Litigation Blog : Florida Probate Litigation, Will Contest Lawyer & Attorney : Juan C. Antúnez : Serving Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa Saint Petersburg, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)

McEnderfer v. Keefe, 2006 WL 129320 (Fla. Jan 19, 2006)

In 2005 I wrote here about the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Warburton construing Florida's homestead laws as applicable to otherwise freely devisable homestead property. This was a companion case to the 2005 decision, and the Court merely restates its earlier position.

This Court recently quashed Warburton and answered the certified question in the negative. We therefore answer the certified question in this case in the negative and hold that where a decedent is not survived by a spouse or minor children, the decedent's homestead property passes to the residuary devisees, not the general devisees, unless there is a specific testamentary disposition ordering the property to be sold and the proceeds made a part of the general estate. See McKean v. Warburton, 30 Fla. L. Weekly S613, --- So.2d ----, 2005 WL 2155180 (Fla. Sept. 8, 2005).

The following briefs were filed with the Court in this case:

• Petitioner's Initial Brief on the Merits
• Respondent's Answer Brief on the Merits
• Petitioner's Reply Brief