## Facts

- Luis F. Manes died on November 3, 2013.
- Carmen Manes petitioned for intestate administration and was appointed personal representative on November 14, 2013.
- The estate published a notice to creditors on November 21 and 29, 2013.
- Before Manes’s death, a misdemeanor battery charge arose from a May 28, 2013 incident; the criminal case was later dismissed by nolle prosequi on December 4, 2013.
- Yvette Soriano asserted she was the battery victim and had retained counsel to investigate a civil tort claim.
- Soriano alleged her counsel spoke with Manes’s criminal defense attorney and stated counsel represented Soriano regarding the alleged battery.
- On March 21, 2014, Soriano filed (1) a statement of claim against the estate based on an anticipated tort action and (2) an unverified petition seeking a ruling that the claim was timely or, alternatively, an extension of time.
- The personal representative filed an affidavit stating she made a diligent search and served all creditors she identified.

## Issues

1. Whether Soriano was a reasonably ascertainable creditor requiring personal service of notice to creditors under section 733.2121, Florida Statutes.
2. If Soriano was not reasonably ascertainable, whether her claim was barred for being filed more than three months after first publication under section 733.702(1), Florida Statutes.
3. Whether Soriano was entitled to an extension of time to file based on statutory or equitable grounds.

## Decision

- The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the probate court’s order denying Soriano’s petition.
- The court held Soriano was not a reasonably ascertainable creditor but a conjectural creditor for whom publication notice was sufficient.
- The court held Soriano’s March 21, 2014 claim was untimely under the three-month bar of section 733.702(1), measured from first publication on November 21, 2013.
- The court rejected any extension of time because Soriano did not show a recognized basis (such as fraud or similar grounds) to excuse late filing.

## Legal Principles

- A personal representative must make a diligent search to identify reasonably ascertainable creditors and serve them, but impracticable or extended searches are not required. § 733.2121, Fla. Stat.
- Creditors who are not known or reasonably ascertainable must file claims within three months of first publication of the notice to creditors, or the claims are barred. § 733.702(1), Fla. Stat.
- A potential tort claimant whose contemplated civil claim has not been communicated to the personal representative and is not discoverable through a reasonable creditor search is not a reasonably ascertainable creditor and may be treated as conjectural.
- Communications involving the decedent’s criminal defense counsel, without notice to the personal representative, do not establish the estate’s knowledge of a civil claim for probate-notice purposes.

## Conclusion

The court held that a prospective tort claimant who did not put the personal representative on notice and was not reasonably discoverable through a diligent creditor search was not entitled to personal service of the notice to creditors; because her claim was filed more than three months after publication and no valid ground for extension was shown, it was barred.


Soriano v. Estate of Manes, 177 So. 3d 677 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015)