By Jason Palmisano
On October 1, 2015 the Florida Supreme Court held in Jones v. Golden that if a creditor of a probate estate is reasonably ascertainable and they never received a copy of the notice to creditors from the personal representative of the estate then the creditor has two (2) years after the decedent’s date of death to file a claim against the estate.
The Court’s holding approved a prior decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal but was contrary to prior decisions by the First, Second and Fifth District Court of Appeals which held a reasonably ascertainable creditor who had not received a copy of the notice to creditors was required to file a claim against the estate within three (3) months after the publication of the first notice, unless the creditor filed a motion to extend the time.
The Florida Supreme Court’s opinion can be read here: Jones v. Golden, Case No. SC13-2536 (Fla., October 1, 2015) .
