IN RE THE ESTATE OF MONIQUE J. HILL, DECEASED. STEVE PATRICK SHEHAN, APPELLANT,
v.
GARY W. POLLACK, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE, JANET HILL CATES AND SCOTT DELOACH, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-10-10
No. 89-730
Before NESBITT, COPE and GERSTEN, JJ.
552 So. 2d 1133 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Negative Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

A natural son challenged his deceased mother's devise of her homestead condominium to her stepdaughter, arguing the homestead was inalienable and exempt from creditors' claims. The court affirmed, holding that because the decedent was not survived by a spouse or minor children, she could freely devise the homestead, and the devised property remained subject to creditors' claims.


Holding

A decedent who is not survived by a spouse or minor children may freely devise her homestead property. Property devised to a devisee is subject to the claims of creditors of the estate, as devisees (unlike heirs) receive no exemption protection.


Headnotes

[1] A homestead is subject to devise if the owner is not survived by a spouse or minor child.

[2] A devise of a homestead to an adult child is valid when the owner is not survived by a spouse or minor children.

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Key Quotes

“The homestead shall not be subject to devise if the owner is survived by spouse or minor child, except the homestead may be devised to the owner's spouse if there be no minor child.”

This provision from Florida Constitution Article X, section 4(c) establishes the foundation for the court's holding that a decedent without a surviving spouse or minor children may freely devise the homestead.

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Facts & Procedural History

Monique J. Hill died testate, leaving a condominium constituting a homestead. Her closest heir was her natural son, Steve Patrick Shehan. She was also…

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Opinion of the Court
NESBITT, Judge.

NESBITT, Judge.

A decedent’s natural son claims error in the determination that the decedent could devise her homestead to her stepdaughter as well as her natural son and that, as such, the devised property was subject to the claims of creditors. We affirm.

The decedent, Monique J. Hill, died testate. Among her assets was a condominium which the trial court determined constituted a homestead. Her closest heir at law for the purpose of descent and distribution was her natural son, Steve Patrick Shehan. The decedent was also survived by a stepdaughter from a previous marriage, Janet Hill Cates. The decedent had never adopted Ms. Cates. Neither Ms. Cates nor Mr. Shehan was a minor. The decedent was not survived by a spouse. She devised a life estate of sole possession in the condominium to her stepdaughter. Whenever the condominium was sold, the proceeds of the sale were to be shared equally between the son and stepdaughter. The natural son filed a petition to set aside the devise of the condominium. He claimed that it constituted a homestead within the meaning of Article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution and sections 732.401(1) and 732.402(4), Florida Statutes (1987), and therefore a) it was not subject to devise, and b) it was not subject to the claims of creditors. The stepdaughter’s response was that since the decedent was neither survived by neither a spouse nor minor children, the property was subject to devise under the constitution and statutes cited. We agree with the stepdaughter. Article X, section 4(c) states:

The homestead shall not be subject to devise if the owner is survived by spouse or minor child, except the homestead may be devised to the owner’s spouse if there be no minor child.

In In re McGinty’s Estate, 258 So. 2d 450 (Fla.1971), a widower’s devise of his homestead to one of his four children was held valid where all the widower’s children were adults at the time of his death. Because Ms. Hill left neither a spouse nor minor children, her devise was likewise valid. The restraint on the right of an individual to devise his property at death should not be extended beyond that expressly allowed by the constitution. Id. at 451.

Second, as to the assertion that the property should be held exempt against the claims of creditors of the estate, a position now advocated by both parties, we agree with the trial court that the devised property is subject to the claims of creditors. There is a real and substantial difference between an “heir” and a “devisee.” Heirs, under section 731.201(18), Florida Statutes (1987), are those persons who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent. Devisees, on the other hand, are those persons designated in a will to receive some real or personal property. This important distinction is recognized in Article X, sections 4(b) and (c) of the Florida Constitution and implementing statutes. See §§ 732.401; 732.-4015; 732.402, Fla.Stat. (1987).

Here, Ms. Cates and Mr. Shehan, as devi-sees, were not entitled to receive the property exempt against the claims of creditors of the estate. The decedent had a clear desire to favor her stepdaughter over her natural son in her plan of distribution. Obviously, the will by which the testatrix devised her homestead is a limitation on any rights that her son would have enjoyed as an heir. Additionally, but for the largesse of the decedent, the stepdaughter here would have received no part of her estate.1

We recognize that as of 1985, the homestead exemption is available to any “natural person.” Art. X, § 4(a), Fla. Const. Our supreme court in Public Health Trust v. Lopez, 531 So. 2d 946 (Fla.1988) held that neither spouses nor heirs must be dependent before they can enjoy the benefits of the homestead exemption. We cannot, however, find support in either the above constitutional revision or Lopez for the proposition that the deceased is now precluded from devising her property when at the time of her expiration she leaves neither a spouse nor minor child.

Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision.

. We acknowledge the stepdaughter’s claim that she is an alternative contingent heir under the laws of intestate succession, see § 732.103(5), Fla.Stat. (1987), but find that status has no effect in the present dispute.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Bartelt v. Bartelt, 579 So. 2d 282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
    …s homestead property, takes that property free of the claims of the estate’s creditors. Upon its own motion, this court reheard this case en banc to answer a question of great public importance and to determine the viability of In re Estate of Hill, 552 So. 2d 1133 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), appeal dismissed, 564 So. 2d 487 (Fla.1990).1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm the order on appeal and recede from Hill only to the extent necessary to avoid conflict with the views we express here. Calvin C. Bartelt died…
    1 / 2
  • …A), review denied, 440 So. 2d 352 (Fla.1983). Because the decedent was not survived by a spouse or a minor child, she was free to devise the homestead without restriction. See In re McGinty’s Estate, 258 So. 2d 450 (Fla.1971); In re Estate of Hill, 552 So. 2d 1133 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989). In the absence of a specific devise of the homestead property, it passed through the residuary clause of the decedent’s will. Accordingly, the trial court was eminently correct in deciding not to set aside the order authorizing…
  • Warburton v. McKEAN, 877 So. 2d 50 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
    …[*53] Because the homestead could be freely devised, it was property of the estate subject to division in accordance with the established classifications giving some gifts priority over others.1 See Tescher, 578 So. 2d at 703; In re Estate of Hill, 552 So. 2d 1133, 1133-35 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), receded, from, in part on other grounds, Bartelt v. Bartelt, 579 So. 2d 282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). In determining in what order gifts made in a will are satisfied by the estate’s assets, the particular gifts in the will mus…

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