## Facts

- A Florida probate proceeding was opened for the estate of Sydney Pastor.
- Cynthia H. Pastor petitioned to administer the estate in Florida and served Richard C. Pastor, an interested person, with a notice of administration.
- Service of the notice of administration on Richard was undisputedly proper.
- More than three months after service, Richard filed an amended petition to revoke probate.
- Richard alleged Sydney was not domiciled in Florida at death and argued the Florida probate court lacked authority to administer the estate.
- The trial court dismissed the amended petition as untimely under section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes.

## Issues

1. Whether an objection alleging the decedent was not domiciled in Florida is an objection to “venue or jurisdiction” that must be filed within three months after service of a notice of administration under section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes.
2. Whether a domicile-based objection is a nonwaivable subject-matter jurisdiction challenge that may be raised after the statutory three-month period.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of the amended petition to revoke probate.
- A domicile-based challenge to the Florida probate proceeding constitutes an objection to “venue or jurisdiction” within section 733.212(3).
- Because the petition was filed more than three months after service of the notice of administration, the objection was statutorily barred.
- The court rejected the argument that the domicile challenge was an untime-limited subject-matter jurisdiction defect.

## Legal Principles

- Under section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes, an interested person served with a notice of administration must file objections to the validity of the will, the venue, or the jurisdiction of the court within three months after service or the objections are forever barred.
- An objection asserting the decedent was not domiciled in Florida is treated as a venue/jurisdiction objection subject to the three-month bar.
- Statutory probate objections labeled “jurisdictional” may be time-limited, notwithstanding the general rule that true subject-matter jurisdiction objections are not waivable.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the three-month limitations period in section 733.212(3), holding that a late-filed challenge asserting the decedent was not domiciled in Florida is a barred venue/jurisdiction objection, not an unbounded subject-matter jurisdiction attack.


Pastor v. Pastor, 929 So. 2d 576 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 4th Dist. 2006)