St. Petersburg Probate Attorney

Florida Probate Advice

Florida probate proceedings often involve advice regarding the rights and duties of beneficiaries, personal representatives, creditors, and family. James W. Martin has decades of experience in probate and estates of Florida residents, which he puts to use in every probate case he handles.

Selling Real Estate in Florida Probate

Selling real estate in probate in Florida is complicated by the fact that title to real estate in Florida generally passes immediately on the date of death, even before a probate case is opened, but it is still subject to probate administration. Florida probate attorney James W. Martin provides legal advice and services to probate beneficiaries and personal representatives on selling real estate in probate of Florida decedents and also to trust beneficiaries and trustees of trusts owning real estate in Florida.

Contracts for Sale of Real Estate in Probate

Florida attorney James W. Martin drafts and reviews all types of contracts, such as real estate sales contracts for sale of real estate in Florida. In addition to his law practice, James W. Martin also teaches contract drafting as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law, and he has written over a dozen books and articles on contract drafting that have been published in national and state bar publications. His article “Fifty Tips for Writing the Contract That Stays Out of Court” received The Florida Bar’s Writing Competition Award and has been published in several journals. In addition, James W. Martin has been a speaker at national, state and local bar association conventions and seminars on the subject of drafting contracts and other legal documents.

Real Estate in Probate and Trust

When a Florida resident dies, a probate proceeding is often required to deal with the decedent’s real estate. It’s usually the most valuable asset people own. And if it’s homestead, then it needs to be protected from estate creditors.

James W. Martin Martin is the author of nationally published articles on real estate, such as Tips for Handling the Complex Real Property Transaction, published in the journal The Practical Real Estate Lawyer by the American Law Institute CLE.

And he has written four volumes of legal forms books for attorneys on the subject of Florida real estate sales, leases, and transactions, including the books “Florida Real Estate Sales Contracts” and “Florida Real Estate Lease Agreements”.

Florida real estate laws can be complicated so James W. Martin provides his clients with comprehensive legal services for many aspects of Florida real estate law.

Frequently asked questions on real estate are answered on James W. Martin’s Florida Real Estate Law FAQ page.

Florida Living Trusts

When James W. Martin started practicing law, only a handful of attorneys drafted revocable living trusts to avoid probate, and James W. Martin drafted hundreds of them. His probate and estate law practice deals with the many legal issues that arise when a Florida resident dies with assets owned by a living trust and assets owned outside the living trust.

Florida Estate and Trust Documents

The primary documents for a Florida resident who has died are a last will and testament and, possibly, a revocable living trust. In addition, various documents must be signed to fund the living trust with assets prior to the resident’s death. Assets outside the trust might need to be probated. In addition, probate is generally required to clear claims of creditors by reducing the usual 2-year claims period to just 3 months.

Florida Probate and Trust Assets

Florida probate and trust estates own three kinds of assets — real property, tangible personal property, and intangible personal property. Here are some examples:

• Real estate: Homes, land, buildings, stores, offices, warehouses and industrial plants are real estate, which is also called real property.
• Tangible personal property: The contents of buildings are called tangible personal property, unless they are affixed to the buildings in which case they are called fixtures.
• Intangible personal property: Bank accounts, retirement accounts, IRAs, LLC memberships, corporation stock, partnerships interests, and investment accounts are called intangible personal property.

Florida probate attorney James W. Martin has a broad background in dealing with all types of assets in probate and trust estates and has written numerous legal books and articles on probate, estates, trusts, real estate, corporate, LLC, nonprofit, and business.

Law Professor and Author

Florida probate attorney James W. Martin’s experience includes teaching law students as an adjunct professor of law at Stetson University College of Law for fifteen years, authoring 5,000 pages of legal forms for his books published by West Publishing, writing articles for law journals, and achieving the highest attorney ratings on Super Lawyers, Martindale, and Avvo. He is a member of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar and a former member of The Florida Bar Probate Rules Committee.

During the pandemic James W. Martin wrote five books for attorneys that are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and that are useful in probate cases. For real estate attorneys, he wrote Florida Real Estate Sales Contracts: A Collection of Forms for Lawyers and Florida Real Estate Lease Agreements: A Collection of Forms for Lawyers. For corporate and business attorneys, he wrote How To Form a Florida LLC or Limited Liability Company: A Guide for Lawyers and How To Form a Florida Business Corporation: A Guide for Lawyers. And for nonprofit attorneys, he wrote How To Form a Florida Nonprofit Corporation: A Guide for Lawyers.