Eric Tourian, of the Orlando office, was able to successfully negotiate a settlement in a case involving the death of a toddler. While at his grandparents’ home, the child wandered away from his caretakers and fell into the pool. He was found unresponsive and then tragically died at the hospital. The grandparents’ homeowner’s insurance company tendered the policy limits to the child’s estate in an effort to settle the wrongful death claim.

The child did not have a will and the child’s estate therefore was to be distributed according to Florida’s laws of intestate succession. The intestacy statutes mandate that each parent is to receive 50% of the total estate.

Within a few weeks of the child’s death, his father retained counsel who immediately filed a summary administration with the court in an attempt to bring the matter to a quick resolution. The summary administration pleading miscalculated how the estate should have been distributed and had each parent receiving only 33% of the settlement instead of 50%. The summary administration was also an improper course of pleading since it did not allow for the appointment of a personal representative.

Eric was able to file an objection with the Probate Court and negotiated an agreed resolution which complied with the Florida Probate Code. After negotiation, the attorneys for the father and mother both agreed that a formal administration would be filed, that the estate assets would be distributed according to the Florida intestacy statutes.