IN RE ESTATE OF LESTER PLATT, DECEASED
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Florida appellate court affirmed attorney's fees award in estate proceeding, holding that Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Rowe does not apply to section 733.617 fee determinations and that trial court properly awarded fees based on expert testimony without requiring consideration of all statutory criteria.
Attorney's fees and personal representative fees under section 733.617, Florida Statutes, may be determined based on one or more statutory criteria rather than all criteria, and Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Rowe does not apply to such determinations.
[1] Section 733.617, Florida Statutes, permits reasonable compensation for attorneys and personal representatives to be determined based upon one or more of the statutory cri…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“reasonable compensation shall be based upon 'one or more of the following' criteria set forth in the statute”
Court explaining that section 733.617 permits fees based on one or more statutory criteria rather than all criteria.
In an estate proceeding, the trial court awarded attorney's fees and personal representative fees based on expert testimony regarding reasonable compe…
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PER CURIAM.
We affirm the award of attorney’s fees on the basis of In re: Estate of Warwick, 543 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) which holds that Florida Patient’s Compensation v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla.1985) is not applicable to the determination of attorney’s fees and personal representative fees under section 733.617, Florida Statutes (1987). Further, the testimony presented by the experts demonstrated a basis under the statute1 for the attorneys’ and personal representatives’ fees awarded, and the trial court’s decision will not be disturbed on appeal, absent a clear showing by the appellant that it is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Sheffield v. Davis, 417 So. 2d 796 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), citing In re: Estate of Ryecheek, 323 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975).
WALDEN, GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., concur. . Section 733.617, Florida Statutes (1987), provides that reasonable compensation shall be based upon "one or more of the following" criteria set forth in the statute. Appellant contends that the trial court must look at all the criteria before setting the fee. However, it appears that the Legislature specifically rejected that approach when it passed Chapter 76-172 adding the quoted language to the statute. The title to that act states as follows: An Act relating to the Florida Probate Code: amending § 733.617, Florida Statutes, providing that personal representatives [and] attorneys ... may receive reasonable compensation based upon one or more criteria rather than upon the entire list of current requirements.
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In re Est. OF Lester Platt, 586 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 1991)…OVERTON, Justice. Petitioners, Patricia Platt Faulkner and Barbara Platt Swanson, children and residuary beneficiaries of the estate of Lester Platt, deceased, seek review of the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision in In re Estate of Platt, 546 So. 2d 1114 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), in which the district court approved attorney’s and administrator’s fees computed solely on a percentage of the amount of Platt’s $7,000,000 estate. The district court expressly found that the lodestar method1 to compute attorne…
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City OF Miami Beach v. Kuoni Destination Mgmt., Inc., 81 So. 3d 530 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)…hich remains pending below, and for the trial court’s determination of whether the City presents a reasonable interpretation of the ordinance in light of the presumption of an ordinance’s reasonableness. See City of Ft. Lauderdale v. Canary Enters., 546 So. 2d 1114, 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (citing City of Miami v. Kayfetz, 92 So. 2d 798 (Fla.1957)). On remand, the City is to be given wide latitude in its interpretation of the ordinance if there does not appear to be an abuse of authority violating Kuoni’s fun…
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In re Est. OF Ruth Lane, 562 So. 2d 352 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…e of whether the Rowe criteria applies in probate matters is pending in the Florida Supreme Court. See In re: Estate of Warwick, 543 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), jurisdiction accepted, 555 So. 2d 858 (Fla.1990); and In re: Estate of Lester Platt, 546 So. 2d 1114 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), jurisdiction accepted, 555 So. 2d 858 (Fla.1990) (Rowe need not be applied where specific statutory guidelines have been provided for the determination of an attorney’s fee.)…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fla. Patient's Comp. Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985)
- Etta B. Sheffield v. Dallas, 417 So. 2d 796 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)
- Buoni v. Orlando Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 323 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 1975)
- In re Est. of Michael Ryecheck v. Est. of Leona Migon, 323 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- In re Est. OF Harvey S. Warwick, 543 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)