Winslow vs. Deck Case Summary

By Brandan J. Pratt, Esq., CFP® and Jennifer L. Fox, Esq.

When may a litigant amend a petition in a contested probate proceeding? The Fourth District Court of Appeal addressed this issue in Winslow v. Deck, 225 So. 3d 276 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017). In Winslow, the issue presented to the appellate court was whether the trial court erred in dismissing appellant’s counter-petition for administration on the grounds that appellant failed to properly request relief to revoke a prior will admitted to probate within three months of receiving a notice of administration. Fla. Stat., §733.212(3), provides in pertinent part that “any interested person on whom a copy of the notice of administration is served must object to the validity of the will…by filing a petition or other pleading requesting relief… on or before the date that is 3 months after the date of service… or those objections are forever barred.” Fla. Stat., §7733.208, provides that “on the discovery of a later will or codicil, any interested person may petition to revoke the probate of a prior will or probate a later will.”

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