Estate Planning, Probate and Guardianship Attorney for Miami Beach, FL

A Collins Avenue condo held in one owner’s name goes through Miami-Dade probate when that owner dies, and the association may still need to approve whoever ends up with the unit. A Mid-Beach house owned by a widow with early dementia can’t be sold or refinanced unless someone has the legal authority to sign for her. In Miami Beach, both situations come up all the time.

Pamela Schatten’s father, A. Jeffrey Barash, practiced estate and tax law in Miami Beach, and the firm still serves Miami Beach families today. Pamela has practiced for 20 years, is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and appears in Miami-Dade’s 11th Judicial Circuit. Our office is on Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale, and many Miami Beach clients meet with us by video and sign remotely.

Why Miami Beach Families Work With Barash-Schatten Law

A family connection to Miami Beach

Pamela learned the work in her father’s Miami Beach practice. The condo buildings, the associations and the way property passes through families here are familiar ground.

Condo and title experience

Most Miami Beach estates include a condominium. Pamela is an underwriting agent with Attorneys’ Title Fund and of counsel to a Florida title company, so association approvals, reserve issues and title questions are handled by the same attorney drafting the plan or settling the estate.

Distance is not a problem

Our electronic estate planning package lets documents be signed, witnessed and notarized remotely. Probate and guardianship matters for Miami Beach residents are handled in Miami-Dade circuit court, where Pamela practices.

Direct access

Pamela takes her own calls and usually replies within two hours during the business day. Every matter is scoped and quoted in writing first.

The Legal Landscape for Miami Beach Property

Miami Beach is in Miami-Dade County, Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, and its probate and guardianship cases are filed in the Miami-Dade circuit court. Florida has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax. For most Miami Beach families, the real costs come from probate delays, association approval requirements and incapacity planning that was never done.

Condo ownership has changed since the 2021 collapse in neighboring Surfside. Florida’s 2022 condo safety law requires milestone structural inspections for buildings three stories or taller and structural integrity reserve studies, and many associations have raised dues or levied special assessments to comply. For an heir inheriting a unit, or a family selling one out of an estate, those assessments can change what the unit is worth and how quickly it sells.

Legal Services for Miami Beach Clients

Estate Planning

A Miami Beach plan has to account for the condo, the association and, often, family who live in other states or other countries.

• Revocable trusts: Hold the Miami Beach unit in trust so it passes without probate. Many associations require approval of the trust or the trustee, and we handle that paperwork.
• Wills: Florida requires two witnesses and allows a self-proving affidavit, so the will can be admitted without locating witnesses later.
• Ladybird deeds: A simpler alternative for some owners. You keep full control during life and the property passes at death without probate.
• Durable power of attorney and health care surrogate: So someone you trust can deal with the bank, the association and your doctors if you can’t.
• Preneed guardian designation: Naming who you’d want as guardian if one is ever appointed (section 744.3045).

Probate and Estate Administration

• Miami-Dade probate: Formal and summary administration for Miami Beach estates, including the creditor notice and claim period.
• Selling the unit: Coordinating association approval, payoff of assessments and the closing on behalf of the personal representative.
• Out-of-state heirs: Florida lets a nonresident serve as personal representative only if related to the person who died (section 733.304). We help families sort out who can serve.
• Trust administration: For successor trustees handling a unit already held in trust.

Guardianship

• Adult guardianship: When a parent with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease can no longer manage money, medical decisions or the unit itself, and no power of attorney was signed in time.
• Limited guardianship: Preserving the rights the person can still exercise, as Florida law requires the court to consider.
• Guardian advocacy: For an adult child with a developmental disability, under section 393.12.
• Annual reporting: Plans and accountings filed with the Miami-Dade court.

Real Estate and Title Work

• Condo purchases and sales: Reviewing association documents, reserve studies, inspection reports and pending assessments before you sign.
• Long-held family homes: Clearing title on properties that passed through several generations without a formal estate at each step.
• Deeds into trusts: Retitling a Miami Beach property so the estate plan works.
• Title insurance: Through Attorneys’ Title Fund.

Family Law

We also handle family law matters for Miami Beach clients.

A Miami Beach Example

A retired couple in North Beach own their condo jointly. The husband dies, and the unit passes to his wife automatically because of how the deed was written. Three years later she’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and the building announces a large special assessment. Her children, who live in New York, have no authority to pay it from her accounts, negotiate with the association or sell the unit.

If she signs a durable power of attorney while she still can, her children can handle all of it. If she can’t, a guardianship petition in Miami-Dade circuit court is the next step. Either way, a call before the assessment is due gives the family far more options than a call afterward.

How We Handle a Miami Beach Matter

01. Phone or video intake
We ask about the property, the family and any documents already signed.

02. Consultation and written quote
By video or at our Fort Lauderdale office. Scope and fee are put in writing.

03. Drafting, filing and association paperwork
Pamela handles the legal work personally and explains each step.

04. Remote signing and follow-through
Documents can be signed remotely, and we record deeds and confirm the trust is funded.

Serving Miami Beach and Northeast Miami-Dade

• Miami Beach neighborhoods: South Beach, Mid-Beach, North Beach, Normandy Isles, the Collins Avenue corridor
• Nearby Miami-Dade: Surfside, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach, Aventura
• South Broward: Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach

Meet Pamela Schatten

Attorney · AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Pamela was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2006 after training in her father’s estate practice. She is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and practices in Miami-Dade’s 11th Judicial Circuit and Broward’s 17th. Read Pamela’s full bio.