Previously commenced probate proceedings are not necessarily trumped by a subsequently filed lawsuit in the Circuit Court’s general jurisdiction division

Kutlesic v. Estate of Mervel, 30 Fla. L. Weekly D753 (Fla. 3 DCA March 16, 2005) (Trial Court Affirmed) The decedent allegedly promised his entire estate to his girlfriend. Unfortunately for her, he then died intestate, leaving her with nothing. Probate proceedings were commenced in 1999. In 2000 the girlfriend sued the decedent’s estate on a number of grounds in the general jurisdiction division of the Circuit Court, all of which were eventually dismissed but for a “quantum meruit” claim. The estate then commenced an adversary proceeding before probate-division Judge Sidney B. Shapiro, that resulted in the girlfriend being ordered to vacate the decedent’s former apartment. The Third DCA held that this ruling was not an abuse of discretion, even though the girlfriend’s “quantum meruit” claim remained pending in the general jurisdiction division of the Circuit Court.