Madill v. Russell, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Judy Dell Bush
The Second DCA reversed a probate court order holding that service of formal notice under Florida Probate Rule 5.040(a)(3)(A) is only complete "upon receipt by the person to whom delivery is made" — unclaimed certified mail does not satisfy that standard. The court further clarified that Rule 5.040 expressly provides an alternative remedy when certified mail goes unclaimed: re-service by first-class mail under subdivision (a)(3)(D), which is complete on mailing and which the personal representative failed to use. This decision matters to probate and civil practitioners because it forecloses reliance on attempted-but-unclaimed certified mail as effective formal notice, and it signals that downstream procedural bars (letters of administration already issued, § 733.2123) cannot cure defective service on an interested beneficiary.
Key facts
- Decedent Judy Bush died October 2021; her daughter Colette Russell petitioned in October 2023 to admit the decedent's 1982 will to probate, under which Russell is a beneficiary but granddaughter Chelsea Madill is not.
- A 2019 will also existed, under which Madill is a beneficiary and Russell is not; Russell alleged in her petition that the 2019 will was procured by undue influence and was therefore invalid.
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Holdings
- Fla. Prob. R. 5.040(a)(3)(A) and (a)(5) (2023) — service by signed-receipt mail is complete only upon actual receipt by the addressee
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