Each card leads with the official court PDF when one is public. Justia and FindLaw are free mirrors of the same opinion. A Florida Law Weekly citation (for example, “51 Fla. L. Weekly D2087a”) is a locator: it helps subscribers find the case. It is not a link to the paid text. A district court opinion generally binds Florida trial courts statewide unless another district has ruled differently. A trial-court order, like the one labeled “Supplement” below, is not binding precedent for other cases.
October 7, 2026
Walters, as Personal Representative v. Agency for Health Care Administration
Florida Third District Court of Appeal · 3D25-0817 (L.T. 18-591-CP-02)
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly D2087a
What the court did
The question was whether a cooperative apartment (a “co-op,” where the owner holds shares in a corporation plus the right to occupy a unit, rather than a deed) counts as homestead. Florida homestead (the home protected by the Florida Constitution) generally cannot be forced into a sale to pay most debts of the owner’s estate. Here the estate’s main creditor was the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the state agency that runs Florida Medicaid, which had filed a claim to recover Medicaid benefits paid during the owner’s life.
The decedent died on August 29, 2017. In an earlier appeal in the same Miami-Dade case, the Third District held that under the statute then in force, a co-op interest was not “real property” for homestead purposes. In 2021 the Legislature amended section 719.103(25), Florida Statutes, to say that an interest in a cooperative unit is an interest in real property. The estate argued the amendment should reach back to the 2017 death.
The trial court said no, and the Third District affirmed. The court noted the Legislature never called the 2021 change remedial or a clarification of existing law, so it applies going forward only. Because the co-op was not real property on the date of death, homestead protection from forced sale did not apply, and AHCA’s claim was not blocked on that ground.
Practical takeaway
The date of death, and the law in force on that day, still drives whether a co-op counts as homestead against a Medicaid estate recovery claim. A later statute does not automatically rewrite an older death.
A family might assume that because the law changed in 2021, a parent’s co-op that passed before then is safe from AHCA. This opinion says that assumption can be wrong. If a parent owns a co-op, or the family expects an AHCA claim after a Medicaid recipient dies, flag the form of ownership and the date of death early.
September 23, 2026
Slightly earlier than this page’s late-September window, and still on point.
McFarlane v. Holness, as Personal Representative
Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal · 4D2025-2750 (L.T. 062025CP000047A001CE, Broward)
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly D1959c
What the court did
A surviving spouse asked the Broward probate court to declare her late husband’s former home his constitutional homestead. Years earlier, during a prior marriage, he and his then-wife had signed an enhanced life estate deed, often called a “Lady Bird” deed. That type of deed lets the owners keep living in the home, and keep the power to sell, mortgage or lease it, while naming who receives it at death without probate.
The deed was mentioned in a footnote but not attached to the spouse’s petition. On a motion to dismiss, the trial court read the deed anyway, concluded the husband held no fee interest (full ownership) at death, and dismissed the petition.
The Fourth District reversed. A motion to dismiss only tests whether the petition states a claim, so the court ordinarily stays within the petition and its attachments. Weighing an unattached deed and deciding ownership and homestead rights went beyond that limited role. The case goes back for further proceedings. The appellate court expressly did not decide whether the Lady Bird deed ultimately defeats the spouse’s homestead claim.
Practical takeaway
Lady Bird deeds are common in Florida planning, and they can collide with a later marriage and with a surviving spouse’s homestead rights. A family might sign a Lady Bird deed naming the children, and then one parent remarries after the other dies. That is the moment to revisit the deed, the will and any prenuptial agreement together.
This opinion is mainly procedural: a dismissal on the papers is not the end of the story. The deed’s ultimate effect remains an open question in this case.
October 23, 2026
Rivera-Wagner, as Trustee v. Wagner
Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal · 6D2026-2636 (L.T. 2026-CA-004081, Polk)
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly D2226b
What the court did
A trustee of a living trust, who is not a lawyer, filed papers in a Polk County case “as trustee.” The circuit court ordered her to hire a lawyer for the trust and struck the filings she made without one. She asked the Sixth District to review those orders, and the court dismissed her petition.
The reason: a person who is not a Florida attorney may not represent a trust in court. Doing so is the unauthorized practice of law. The trustee argued that the trust document itself prohibited lawyers from representing the trust. The court held that private trust language cannot authorize a non-lawyer to practice law, because under the Florida Constitution the Florida Supreme Court alone regulates who may practice law. The opinion follows the Sixth District’s recent decision in Gonzalez v. Lagrasse.
Practical takeaway
If you name a spouse, child or friend as trustee, plan for the trust to need a lawyer if it ever ends up in court. A family member can often handle day-to-day trust administration, such as paying bills and keeping records. Once there is a lawsuit, though, a clause saying no lawyer may represent the trust will not rescue filings made without one, and it can cost time when the matter is urgent.
October 7, 2026
MEB Loan Trust VI v. Isaacs
Florida Third District Court of Appeal · 3D25-1280 (L.T. 23-17090-CA-01)
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly D2085a
What the court did
A lender sued in Miami-Dade circuit court to foreclose a mortgage. One record co-owner, Albert Isaacs, had signed the mortgage and had already been found totally incapacitated, with a plenary guardian of the property appointed. The guardian answered for the ward, then persuaded the trial court to dismiss Isaacs himself as a defendant, arguing that Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.260 required substituting the guardian for the ward.
The Third District reversed. Rule 1.260 covers a party who dies or becomes incompetent during a lawsuit, and here the incapacity came before the suit was filed, so the rule did not apply at all. Guardianship lets the guardian manage and defend for the ward. It does not take title away from the ward or make the guardian the owner. As the record title holder, the ward is an indispensable defendant in a foreclosure and must stay in the case. The court suggested a clearer caption, such as “Albert Isaacs, a ward, by [guardian], as guardian of the property.”
Practical takeaway
Guardianship protects and manages. It does not make the ward disappear from a lawsuit about property the ward still owns. Families and guardians should expect the ward to stay named in the case, with the guardian acting on the ward’s behalf, rather than being replaced.
For planning, this is one more reason many families prefer a well-drafted durable power of attorney and a preneed guardian designation, which may reduce the chance that a court-supervised guardianship is needed at all.
October 1, 2026
In re Amendments to Florida Probate Rules 5.171 and 5.205
Supreme Court of Florida · SC2026-0039
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly S296a · Effective January 1, 2027, 12:01 a.m.
What the court did
The Court deleted Rule 5.171, which only repeated section 731.103, Florida Statutes, and reworked Rule 5.205 on filing evidence of death. “Evidence of death” means the proof that section 731.103 accepts, such as an official death record.
Under the amended rule, opening a formal administration (the full, court-supervised type of probate) does not require filing a death certificate up front. Instead, evidence of death must be filed by the rule’s deadlines. In a formal administration, that is no later than 3 months after the first publication of the notice to creditors. In summary administration (a shorter process, generally for estates worth $150,000 or less after excluding exempt property, or where the person died more than two years earlier), it is any time before the court signs the order. A court may not require an official death record earlier than the rule allows unless there is reasonable cause to believe the person is still alive.
Practical takeaway
Families sometimes cannot get a certified death certificate right away, for example while a medical examiner’s review is pending. Starting January 1, 2027, the amended rules make clear that a missing certificate is not, by itself, a reason to block opening a probate case. The official record still has to be filed, on the rule’s schedule.
October 14, 2026
South Florida Donor Network, LLC v. In re Guardianship of Jacqueline Daley
Florida Third District Court of Appeal · 3D26-2178 (L.T. 25-4281-GD-02)
Locator: 51 Fla. L. Weekly D2180b
This opinion involves the end of a person’s life and a dispute about organ donation. It appears here as a planning note about timing and written wishes, not as guidance on how a contested donation should be handled.
What the court did
At about 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2026, an organ procurement organization asked the Third District for emergency review. The day before, a circuit court had denied its emergency petition, under section 765.512, Florida Statutes, to authorize an anatomical gift (donation of organs or tissue) from a guardianship ward whose life support was about to be withdrawn.
The appellate court heard argument at about 7:00 p.m. and, with no objection, temporarily stayed the lower court’s orders. The ward died that evening. The next day the court vacated the stay and dismissed the petition as moot. The opinion explains that under Florida’s anatomical gift law, when a person has not made a gift or named a health care surrogate, listed classes of people may authorize one in a set order of priority. It does not issue a lasting ruling on whether the denial was right.
Practical takeaway
Write down anatomical-gift wishes before incapacity, on a donor registry or in an advance directive, and name a health care surrogate. Once a dispute turns on hours in a guardianship court, appellate review can be overtaken by events. This note is about process and planning.
