| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the distribution of estate shares to |
| 3 | heirs; amending s. 732.103, F.S.; revising the order of |
| 4 | the distribution of shares of an estate to heirs; deleting |
| 5 | an application limitation to escheated property of certain |
| 6 | descendants of Holocaust victims; deleting a termination |
| 7 | of application to certain filings; limiting responsibility |
| 8 | and liability of personal representatives in searches for |
| 9 | certain levels of descendants for purposes of escheated |
| 10 | property; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Subsections (4) and (6) of section 732.103, |
| 15 | Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is added to |
| 16 | that section, to read: |
| 17 | 732.103 Share of other heirs.--The part of the intestate |
| 18 | estate not passing to the surviving spouse under s. 732.102, or |
| 19 | the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, |
| 20 | descends as follows: |
| 21 | (4) If there is none of the foregoing, the estate shall be |
| 22 | divided, one-half of which shall go to the decedent's paternal, |
| 23 | and the other half to the decedent's maternal, kindred in the |
| 24 | following order: |
| 25 | (a) To the grandfather and grandmother equally, or to the |
| 26 | survivor of them. |
| 27 | (b) If there is no grandfather or grandmother, to uncles |
| 28 | and aunts and descendants of deceased uncles and aunts of the |
| 29 | decedent. |
| 30 | (c) If there are no uncles or aunts is either no paternal |
| 31 | kindred or no maternal kindred, the estate shall go to the |
| 32 | great-grandfather and great-grandmother equally, or to the |
| 33 | survivor of them other kindred who survive, in the order stated |
| 34 | above. |
| 35 | (d) If there is no great-grandfather or great-grandmother, |
| 36 | to the brothers and sisters of the grandfather and grandmother |
| 37 | on the same side and to the descendants of such of them as may |
| 38 | be deceased. |
| 39 | (e) If there are no paternal or maternal kindred, the |
| 40 | estate shall go to such of the kindred as shall survive in the |
| 41 | order provided in paragraphs (a)-(d). |
| 42 | (6) If none of the foregoing, and if any of the |
| 43 | descendants of the decedent's great-grandparents were Holocaust |
| 44 | victims as defined in s. 626.9543(3)(a), including such victims |
| 45 | in countries cooperating with the discriminatory policies of |
| 46 | Nazi Germany, then to the lineal descendants of the great- |
| 47 | grandparents. The court shall allow any such descendant to meet |
| 48 | a reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof to |
| 49 | substantiate his or her lineage. This subsection only applies to |
| 50 | escheated property and shall cease to be effective for |
| 51 | proceedings filed after December 31, 2004. |
| 52 | (7) For purposes of filing claims for proceeds of property |
| 53 | that escheats to the state as provided in s. 732.107 in cases of |
| 54 | estates left with no known heirs, the personal representative |
| 55 | shall exercise ordinary and reasonable diligence in locating |
| 56 | heirs only to the grandfather descendant level of inheritance |
| 57 | and shall not be held liable for failing to search beyond that |
| 58 | descendant level of inheritance. |
| 59 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |