A probate court ruling was overturned today, allowing the mistress of a car dealership mogul to collect the proceeds from the sale of his Florida condo. The case has been in various stages of litigation since the multi-millionaire's 2004 death. The woman originally had three claims to the estate, but this is the only one -- the last of the three -- on which she has prevailed.

The challenge arose out of a meeting just months before the millionaire's death. The woman reportedly wheeled her ailing, 78-year-old companion into his attorney's office, where he apparently reworked his will.

In his 1988 will, he left most of his estate to his wife, children and grandchildren. During that last meeting, he signed over valuable real estate holdings to his mistress and granted her a generous monthly allowance. The court eventually denied her the allowance and one of the real estate parcels (located on Cape Cod). The Florida condo was apparently about to be sold -- for $1.36 million -- at the time of the man's death.

The tricky part is that this man lived in Georgia and wrote his will in Georgia. The Georgia courts have handled the litigation, and the Georgia Supreme Court made this most recent decision -- but this decision is based on Florida law. Or, it's based on Georgia law that says Florida law governs.

Generally, a will is governed by the law of the state in which it was executed. The court in his matter chose to apply Florida probate law because Georgia law directed it to do so. As the decision puts it, "a devise of real property will always be construed, as far as the effect of the will is concerned, in accordance with. . .the law of the place where the land is situated."

The law of Florida that entitled the mistress to the proceeds from the sale of the condo was put in place to protect the heirs to property from being effectively disinherited if the property is sold.

It's a little used statute, but it works. The proceeds from the sale of the Florida condo will go to the mistress.

Much to the chagrin of the estate.

Source: Miami Herald, "Ga. court sides with mistress in estate battle," Greg Bluestein, 05/31/2011