Estate Planning, Probate and Guardianship Attorney Serving South Florida

Not every client lives in one of the cities with its own page on this site. Some are in Coral Springs or Weston. Some live in Sunny Isles Beach. A good number live in New York, Ohio or North Carolina and are trying to settle a parent’s estate or care for a parent who still lives in a Broward or Miami-Dade condo.

Pamela Schatten has practiced for 20 years and is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. From our office on Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale, she handles estate planning, probate, guardianship and related real estate matters for clients throughout Broward and Miami-Dade County, and for families elsewhere who are dealing with Florida property.

Why Distance Rarely Gets in the Way

Most of the work can be done without repeated trips to our office.

Remote signing

Our electronic estate planning package lets wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health care documents be signed, witnessed and notarized remotely. A client in Weston, or a daughter in Atlanta helping her father, can finish the process from home.

One attorney who knows the file

Pamela handles every matter personally. You won’t be explaining your family’s situation to a new person each time you call, and most messages get a reply within two hours during the business day.

Courts in both counties

Pamela practices in Broward’s 17th Judicial Circuit and Miami-Dade’s 11th, so a probate or guardianship case in either county is handled without bringing in another firm.

A written quote first

Every matter is scoped and priced in writing before work begins. If something can’t be done remotely, we’ll tell you up front.

When the Family Lives Out of State

Out-of-state children often take on a Florida parent’s affairs from a distance. Florida law has a few rules that catch them off guard.

Who can serve as personal representative. A nonresident can serve in Florida only if related to the person who died by blood, adoption or marriage, or as the spouse of such a relative (section 733.304). A son in Chicago can serve. A family friend in Chicago generally can’t.

Florida property needs a Florida proceeding. If a parent who lived in another state owned a Broward or Miami-Dade condo in their own name, that property usually has to be transferred through a Florida court, separately from any probate case back home.

Powers of attorney. Florida requires a durable power of attorney to be signed before two witnesses and a notary (section 709.2105). Some out-of-state forms don’t meet that standard, and Florida banks notice.

Guardianship is local. If a parent living in Florida loses capacity, the guardianship case is filed in the Florida county where the parent lives, even if the person seeking appointment lives elsewhere. Florida has its own rules about when a nonresident can serve as guardian, so it’s worth asking early.

Services Available Throughout South Florida

Estate Planning

• Revocable trusts and deeds into trust, so Florida property passes without probate
• Wills that meet Florida’s two-witness requirement and include a self-proving affidavit
• Ladybird deeds for owners who want a simpler way to pass a home outside probate
• Durable powers of attorney, health care surrogates, living wills and preneed guardian designations

Probate and Estate Administration

• Formal administration, including the notice to creditors and the three-month claim period under section 733.702
• Summary administration for estates of $75,000 or less, excluding exempt property, or deaths more than two years ago (section 735.201)
• Trust administration under the Florida Trust Code, Chapter 736
• Homestead determinations before a home is sold or transferred

Guardianship

• Adult guardianship for a parent with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or the effects of a stroke, including limited guardianship
• Guardian advocacy for adults with autism, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities, under section 393.12
• Minor guardianship for inheritances or settlements above $15,000
• Annual reports for court-appointed guardians

Real Estate and Title Work

• Selling a parent’s home or condo out of an estate, a trust or a guardianship
• Title searches, curative work and title insurance through Attorneys’ Title Fund
• Condo reviews, including reserves and any milestone inspection required since Florida’s 2022 condo safety law

Family Law

We also handle family law matters for clients throughout the region.

Helping a Florida Parent From Another State

If you’re the adult child managing things from a distance, a few steps make everything that follows easier:

1. Find out what your parent has already signed: a will, a trust, a power of attorney, a health care surrogate designation. Ask where the originals are kept.
2. Check how the Florida home or condo is titled. A copy of the deed from the county’s online records will tell you.
3. Ask your parent’s doctor whether there are concerns about capacity. If documents still need to be signed, timing matters.
4. Gather the names of the bank, the condo association and any financial advisor. You’ll need them either way.

Then call us. If your parent can still sign, we can usually put the right documents in place in one or two meetings, often by video, and the signing itself can be done remotely. If your parent can no longer sign, we’ll explain what a guardianship would involve in the county where your parent lives, how long it typically takes, and whether any existing document might make it unnecessary.

We hear from a lot of families after a hospital stay, when a social worker asks who has authority to make decisions. It’s a far easier conversation to have before that point.

Our Process, Wherever You Are

01. An intake call
We find out where the property is, who’s involved and what has already been signed.

02. A video or in-person consultation
Then a written scope and fee.

03. Drafting or filing
Pamela prepares the documents or the court filings and explains them plainly.

04. Remote signing and recording
Documents are signed remotely or in person, and deeds are recorded in the right county.

Communities We Serve

Each of these cities has its own page: Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Miami Beach, Dania Beach, Aventura and Pembroke Pines. We also serve:

• North Broward: Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Coconut Creek, Margate, Coral Springs, Tamarac
• Central Broward: Wilton Manors, Lauderhill, Plantation, Sunrise, Lauderdale Lakes
• South and west Broward: Davie, Weston, Hallandale Beach, Cooper City, Miramar
• Northeast Miami-Dade: Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach, North Miami, Surfside, Bal Harbour
• Out of state: Families anywhere who need help with a parent’s Florida estate, guardianship or property

Meet Pamela Schatten

Attorney · AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Pamela trained beside her father, A. Jeffrey Barash, a Super Lawyer with about forty years in estate and tax law. She was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2006 and is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. Read her full bio.