♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss at Wednesday, October 22, 2014
The recent 2nd District
Court of Appeals ruling in the case of Friscia
v. Friscia, No. 2D13–412 (August 27, 2014),
provides a new twist on the value of
a “life estate” interest in Florida Homestead real property. Friscia involved a surviving second
spouse’s challenge to the determination that her deceased spouse’s interest in
his former marital residence constituted “homestead” real property, protected
from the possession and control of the Personal Representative of his estate,
that the former spouses marital settlement agreement granted temporary
exclusive use and possession of the
residence to the former spouse and precluded the surviving spouse from
utilizing the “life estate” interest in the residence that she had
inherited. The 2nd DCA
affirmed the Probate Court ruling that held the former marital home to be entitled to
the homestead exemption and that the terms of the MSA did not waive the decedent's
right to the constitutional protection from claims of his creditors.
