Florida Estate, Indiana Educational Support

[indychick]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana/Florida

My ex passed away in May after living in Port St. Lucie, Florida for a number of years. Our son is 22 and lives in Indiana. There is an Indiana court order for educational support and medical expenses in effect for another year--until my son is out of college. Can I claim this against the estate? If so, how do I find out who the estate representative is and how to make the claim?

[ladybg1]

Probate would be in Fla & you can contact the probate court in that county to see if it has been opened yet. You can certainly file a claim with the estate if it has been started. Do you know if there is a will? Your son is most likely an heir in the estate unless Dad deliberately excluded him. If no will, then with the intestate rules, he will be entitled to a portion of the estate. The county will be St Lucie County & the probate court number is 772-462-6920 according to their website.

[Dandy Don]

An attorney can help you file the claim.

[indychick]

Thanks for the info--I will get busy and contact the court ASAP. I am sure he left a will and he also had a revocable trust when we were married. I am also sure that my son was not left anything by his father as he had remarried and had 2 more children. The amount left for a years worth of education payments and some medical bills he was responsible for is probably only about $5000. Hopefully it will not more hassle than it is worth to file a claim. I wonder if the court has claim forms that you can file without hiring an attorney--like they do in small claims court ?

If he has left everything to his wife and new children, then what??

[missmyhusband]

Are his "new children" minors?

[Dandy Don]

It doesn't matter what he left to his wife and children--if there are any assets in the estate then any debts (including your claim) must be paid first before any distribution is made.

[mmmagique]

But is child support considered a debt if the person died before it became owed?

Sorry about the messed up question; my question is...if the ncp was completely caught up on cs when he passed, would his estate be held responsible for future support?

[nextwife]

Sometimes there is a clause in the divorce decree that requires life insurance naming the CP for the purpose of covering any remaining support obligation if the other parent if they die. If there was such a clause, and such a policy, a supplimentary claim to cover the same need may not be allowable.

One other matter is what is included in his "estate". Any jointly titled assets may very well pass to the co-owner outside probate. Same with anything that has a named beneficiary, such as an IRA or an insurance policy.

[indychick]

I have checked with St Lucie County Clerk and I find that an estate has been opened. They have claim forms online. I am going to call them up tomorrow and try to get some help with filing the claim. Anyone here know exactly how this is done, how many copies etc? The date of death was May 13 so I am assuming I need to hurry up and get this accomplished.

[Dandy Don]

The claim forms you need may not be online. You truly need to talk to a probate attorney or to the child support office to make sure your claim is filed correctly. The clerk's office is not allowed to give "legal" advice to the public.