CS/HB 599--Administration of estates.

This bill makes the following changes with regard to the administration of estates of decedents and the Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act. The legislation: provides a definition of "minor" for purposes of the Probate Code; deletes the definition of "incompetent" and replaces it with the definition of "incapacitated" for purposes of the Probate Code; amends the statute of limitations for determining paternity in probate proceedings; makes clarifications to provisions addressing the elective share; modifies provisions relating to the assessment of attorney's fees and costs when a request for the elective share is withdrawn, and adds a provision for the assessment of fees and costs when an election is not made in good faith. The bill also updates limitations on exempt property by: increasing the dollar limitation on household goods from $10,000 to $20,000; changing the personal automobile exemption to a personal motor vehicle exemption based on gross weight and limiting the exemption to two motor vehicles; and including all qualified tuition plans authorized by Internal Revenue Code [section]529. The measure further clarifies that, in instances in which the petitioner for summary administration is also the trustee of a trust that is a beneficiary of the decedent's estate, the beneficiaries of the trust are to be made aware of the petition for summary administration. It also: adds a savings provision to the Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act (FUDPIA) intended to protect practitioners from inadvertently disqualifying certain postmortem disclaimers under relevant sections of the Internal Revenue Code; modifies provisions of the FUDPIA to add consistency and correct minor typographical errors; and adds a provision to ensure that the traditional statutory prohibition on disclaimers by insolvent beneficiaries remains unquestionably intact. These provisions were approved by the Governor and take effect July 1, 2009. Ch. 09-115, L.O.F.