Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

Spendthrift clauses can be confusing to trustees. The general idea with a Florida Spendthrift clause is that the beneficiaries cannot assign their interest in the trust to a creditor ( voluntarily or involuntarily)

Here is the test found in a typical clause under the new Florida Trust Code

Spendthrift Provisions. Each trust created by this Trust Agreement shall be a spendthrift trust to the fullest extent allowed by law. Prior to the actual receipt of trust property by any beneficiary, no property (income or principal) distributable under any trust created by this Trust Agreement shall, voluntarily or involuntarily, be subject to anticipation or assignment by any beneficiary, or to attachment by or to the interference or control of any creditor or assignee of any beneficiary, or be taken or reached by any legal or equitable process in satisfaction of any debt or liability of any beneficiary, and any attempted transfer or encumbrance of any interest in such property by any beneficiary hereunder prior to distribution shall be void.

The most common application of a Spendthrift Provision is to protect against involuntary assignment or bankruptcy.

While this may be fine with a small estate, this question often comes up with larger estates.
Why would I want to void my child's right to his 5 Million dollar distribution to avoid paying his creditors $25,000. Would it not be better in such a case to pay of the creditor and let my child enjoy and use the benefits of the trust rather than treat his a being predeceased?

Although it is not clear, the trustee can take this into consideration and make the distribution even though the creditor will receive a small portion of the decedents estate.

In these types of cases, I prefer to include language that a trustee can, in their discretion, make a payment when they know that a portion will go to a creditor of the beneficiary. Some times there is a limit placed on the amount and other times there is no limit placed on the maximum amount that can be used to pay a beneficiaries debts.

The Louisiana Estate Planning Law Blog has an article Whether you should include a "Spendthrift Trust" in your will? where they discuss using a spendthrift trust to prevent your children from loosing the money you leave to them.

If you want to make sure your children do not spend or loose all the money or assets you leave to them. It is also common to include a spendthrift provision in a NFA Gun or Firearms Trust to protect the items from being lost to a creditor. To find out more about how a Spendthrift Clause can help you Contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer
about including a Spendthrift Provision in your Florida Estate Planning Documents

A Florida Life Insurance Trust is an irrevocable trust that allows an individual to make the proceeds of a life insurance poliicy free from income taxes and estate taxes. Typical life insurance policies are income tax free, but many increase the value of one's estate to the point that the federal and or state income taxes are due. By using an ilit one can avoid these taxation issues.

In 2008 the Federal tax exemption is $2,000,000. Lets take a client with 1.5M in assets and a 1M life insurance policy.

If they were to die in 2008 their estate would be valued at 2.5M and 500,000 would be subject to estate taxes. The current estate tax rate is 45% so this estate would have to pay a tax of $225,000.

In 2011 the estate tax exemption is only $1M. With an estate valuation of $2.5M, 1.5M would be subject to estate taxes. Using the same tax rate, this estate would have to pay $675,000.

To find out if or how a Florida Life insurance trust can help you please Contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

When creating a revocable trust you may be asked for a Employment ID number (EIN) or Tax ID to open the account or fill out the paperwork. Many banks do not understand the difference between a revocable and a irrevocable trust. Although irrevocable trusts require TAX ID or EIN's revocable trusts do not require them.

When this happens to you, it may be difficult to get them to understand why they do not need this information. It is best to just fill out that section with your social security number - which is your Tax ID number.

If you have questions on a Florida Revocable Trust you should Contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

Often the first thing that comes to mind with Florida Estate Planning is a Florida will or Florida living trust. Although these are valuable documents they do not have any effect on the distribution of many assets.

We recommend that our Jacksonville residents make sure their beneficiary designations are updated as these control the distribution of many assets. When a Florida Living Trust is part of an estate plan, you can designate your trust to be the beneficiary of most assets. It is important to make sure that the trust is the proper beneficiary. With some assets like retirement plans, you may not want your trust to be the beneficiary as it can have adverse consequences when charities are named as beneficiaries of the trust.

Your beneficiaries need to be updated on a regular basis and in the event of a life event (birth, death, marriage, divorce...). We recommend naming contingent beneficiaries in these documents.

You should review your Florida Estate Planning Documents with a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to make sure your intentions are fulfilled.

There have been many revisions to Florida's Trust Code and I have touched on some of them on this blog in the past.

There have been major changes to creditors rights. Creditors cannot compel distributions from or attach or otherwise reach a beneficiary's interest in a third party discretionary trust whether or not:

1) The trust has a spendthrift provision;
2) The discretion is subject to a standard; or
3) The trustee has abused the discretion.

This clarifies many issues with Florida Trusts.

If you have questions about creditors rights and the New Florida Trust Code please contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to discuss your concerns with.

Stephanie Loomis-Price has recently published her articles entitled Family Limited Partnerships.

In her article, Stephanie offers a detailed outline of the Family Limited Partnership – from consideration of the FLP as an appropriate estate planning tool, through the formation of the partnership, concluding with the administration of the partnership and tax compliance issues.

Family Limited Partnerships are used in Florida Estate Planning when the assets are in excess of the death tax exemption. If you have a large net worth and require structure to help reduce the 45% estate tax rate, you should contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to discuss a Family Limited Partnership.

Mitchell Port a California lawyer posted a link to an article on the California Tax Attorney Blog about an article on the State Bar Website which provides information on estate planning. Although this is a California bar website, many of the same issues and considerations are important to Florida residents interested in Florida Estate Planning. Much of the information is also found on The Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog which primarily deals with Florida issues.

1. What Is Estate Planning?
2. What Is Involved in Estate Planning?
3. Who Needs Estate Planning ?
4. What Is Included in my Estate?
5. What Is a Will?
6. What Is a Revocable Living Trust?
7. What Is Probate?
8. To Whom Should I Leave My Assets?
9. Whom Should I Name as My Executor or Trustee?
10. How Should I Provide for My Minor Children?
11. When Does Estate Planning Involve Tax Planning?
12. How Does the Way in Which I Hold Title Make a Difference?
13. What Are Other Methods of Leaving Property?
14. What If I Become Unable to Care for Myself ?
15. Who Should Help Me With My Estate Planning Documents?
16. How Do I Find a Qualified Lawyer?
17. Should I Beware of Someone Who Is a "Promoter" of Financial and Estate Planning Services?
18. What Are the Costs Involved In Estate Planning?

If you or a family member fees that a Florida Estate Plan will benefit you please contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

Wills

•A new Florida will is almost always advisable for the divorced client, especially if there are minor children.

•Florida Statute section 732.507 generally provides that after the dissolution the provisions for the former spouse in the will are treated as if the former spouse died at the time of the dissolution of the marriage.

• A subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or divorce will not revoke a Florida Will.

•A Major Concern of Most Clients

-Former spouse will be appointed guardian of the property of the deceased client because they are the natural guardian of minor children and have the highest priority for appointment as guardian. The priority can be altered by naming another individual as guardian under a Florida will.

-Consider avoiding a guardianship of the property by having assets for minors held in a Florida trust. Someone other than the former spouse can then be named as trustee.

“Pour Over” Wills and Revocable Trusts

•If the client has established a revocable inter vivos (living) trust and executed a Florida pour over will (a will that distributes the residue to a trust) prior to the dissolution, the former spouse could potentially inherit the entire estate if the former spouse is the beneficiary of the trust. Florida Statute section 732.507 does not have any effect on inter vivos trusts.

•A new or restated Florida trust should be executed to remove provisions for the former spouse for the reasons stated above.

Estate Tax Planning

•If the client has a taxable estate, the fact that they no longer have a spouse could drastically change their estate tax planning due to loss of the marital deduction.

Life Insurance, Deferred Compensation, IRA’s, Annuities

•Beneficiary designations should be reviewed to assure that the former spouse is no longer a beneficiary.

•IRA designations need to be reviewed to make sure the effect of the chosen beneficiaries does not adversely affect one of the beneficiaries because of age, or ineligibility

One common mistake that people make when they have a spouse or children is to transfer their retirement accounts into their Florida Living Trust.

Generally, retirement accounts are not subject to probate because you can name beneficiaries. If you name individual beneficiaries, each beneficiary is given the most flexibility in the way they take and report the proceeds from the IRA.

If you name a Florida Living Trust, the beneficiaries might have to take all of the distributions in the year after death. This can happen when one of the beneficiaries is a charity or not an individual.

The other main problem is when there is a great difference in age between the oldest and youngest beneficiary. Often this happens when the spouse is one of the beneficiaries and there are children or grandchildren that are also named beneficiaries. When this happens it is possible to make all of the distributions the same as with the oldest beneficiary.

These problems can be solved or avoided if the retirement accounts are properly setup, separated, or if the problem beneficiaries are dealt with timely.

Generally its best to either name beneficiaries with retirement accounts individually, separate the retirement accounts while you are still alive, or name a separate revocable trust for these benefits that is different that the main revocable trust.

For more information on how to deal with retirement accounts in probate you should talk with a Florida Probate Lawyer who is familiar with Retirement benefits. It is even better to plan things upfront by using a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

If you or a member of your family was to have a crisis are you prepared? That is the question you should ask your Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or Attorney on a regular basis. Often we only look at significant events in our lives and do not consider the effects that a significant effect in our parents or children's lives will have upon us.

When you review your Florida Estate Plan you should also review or remind your parents and adult children to review their plans also. There are changes in the laws which may prompt updates to your estate planning techniques. In addition, significant changes in your life including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and changes in assets should trigger an estate plan review.

Generally when an Florida Estate Planning Attorney creates Florida Estate Planning Documents their duty is over once the documents are prepared. The obligation is up to you to seek a regular review of these documents.

In addition to reviewing the documents you should consider the following:

1) Make sure you know where your parents documents are, and you tell your personal representative and beneficiaries know where the documents are. If you are concerned that the documents may disappear, you may keep them with an attorney. If you keep your documents with a Jacksonville Florida Estate Planning Lawyerr or Jacksonville Florida Probate Lawyer you should tell people who has them.

2)Check to see that the Florida Estate Planning documents are complete and reflect their current family and financial situation.

3)Make sure that the documents reflect your or your parents current mind set. Wills and trusts need to be reviewed for changes in their financial condition as well as the beneficiaries family and financial condition.

4) Make sure all Estate Planning Documents are signed and witnessed as necessary under the current statutes or those in place at the time of execution.

5)Make sure any Florida Durable Power of Attorney documents mention the current Florida Statutes, many durable power of attorney documents are not honored when they do not comply with the Florida Statutes.

6) Make sure your Florida Living Trust or Florida Revocable Trust or any Florida Trusts are funded. That means that the bank accounts, CD accounts, land, and other assets have been transferred to the trusts. Any deeds to this effect should be properly recorded.

If are not funded they will provide none of the expected benefits upon the death of the grantor.
If you have a Florida Durable Power of Attorney and would it reviewed free of charge by a Jacksonville Florida Estate Planning Lawyer use the contact form on this page.

You have just been asked to be a successor trustee for a Florida Living Trust. What will your trustee duties and responsibilities be? Do you want to accept? Are their downsides? I ran across an interesting article and have applied some of it to Florida law. This note will help you to understand what some of the common issues are and will help you to discuss your options with a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer. Remember that all Florida trusts are different, and that many of your duties, responsibilities may not be contained in the document. Therefore your document will need to be analyzed with the New Florida Trust code.

First Lets discuss some of the background information that will be necessary to understand your duties and responsibilities.

A Trust is a legal entity. When assets are contributed to the trust, the trust separates the legal ownership (possession) from the beneficial ownership (the principal and income). Often trusts look very much like wills because they include instructions for whom your your assets will benefit after our death. Some trusts are created during the life of the person who creates them ( the settlor or grantor) and some are created after their death (testamentary).

Florida Living Trusts work by separating the equitable ownership (the trustee)from the beneficial ownership (the beneficiary).

Who are the people involved in a Trust? The grantor (also called settlor, trustor, creator or trustmaker) is the person whose trust it is. Married couples who set up one trust together are co-grantors of their trust. Only the grantor(s) can make changes to his or her trust.

The trustee manages the assets that are in the trust. Many people choose to be their own trustee and continue to manage their affairs for as long as they are able. Married couples are often co-trustees, so that when one dies or becomes incapacitated, the surviving spouse can continue to handle their finances with no other actions or steps required, including court interference.

A successor trustee is named to step in and manage the trust when the trustee is no longer able to continue (usually due to incapacity or death). Typically, several are named in succession in case one or more cannot act. Sometimes two or more adult children are named to act together. Sometimes a corporate trustee (bank or trust company) is named. Sometimes it is a combination of the two.

The beneficiaries are the persons or organizations who will receive the trust assets after the grantor dies.

Continue reading "Successor Trustee: Duties and Responsibilities" »

Often Estate Planning clients struggle with their spouse or self over who to pick as an agent to represent them in a Florida Durable Powers of Attorney ( Financial decisions), Florida Living will & Designation of Health Care Surrogate ( Health care decisions) and Revocable Trusts (Financial Management).

Initially clients might thing of using a Co-Agent. This can cause many problems and unforeseen circumstances and must be done with the correct expectations and knowledge of the potential problems. Michael Keenan has an article discussing several of these issues, titled Be Careful With Co-Agents. In summary, before choosing co-agents you should consider whether they get along well with each other, and what to do if they do not in the future.

In addition, what if one lives far away or moves after the documents are created. Some hospitals or financial institutions may require that both act together unless each co-agent has "several powers" or "joint and several powers" This can be difficult and impracticable. You put your financial and health interest at risk due to delay in execution of the documents.

Both Michael Keenan and David Goldman, a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney, recommend that unless there are extraordinary situations taking place, the use of co-agents should allow for flexibility and/or the ability for each to act independently.

As a Jacksonville Living Trust Lawyer, I have noticed many changes that effect the administration of Trusts, even those which were already in existence when on July 1, 2007 when the Florida's New Trust Code became effective. If you are an estate planning attorney in another state and have clients who have trusts in Florida, it is most likely that their trusts must be managed differently than their trust document would imply.

1) A trustee has a duty to act in good faith in the interest of the beneficiaries and in accordance with the terms of the trust, imposed in part by sections 736.0801 and 736.0802.

2) There is a new 6 month statute of limitation sunder section 736.1008 with regard to any item set forth in a trust disclosure statement which contains a limitation notice containing the six-month period of time under 736.0604 within which to contest the validity of the terms of the trust.

3) The court has the power to take action and exercise jurisdiction as necessary " in the interest of justice."

4) The court has the power to modify or terminate a trust under sections 736.0410-04115, 0413, 0415, and 0416. Judicial modification in the best interest of the beneficiaries under section 736.0415(3) is not mandatory as to (i) any trust created prior to January 1, 2001 and (ii) any trust created after December 31m 2000 if it is subject to the Traditional RAP (90 years vs the expanded 365 Year RAP that Florida permits) or the trust expressly prohibits such judicial modification.

5) Nonjudicial modification with unanimous agreement of the trustee and all qualified beneficiaries under 736.0412 is not mandatory as to (i) any trust created prior to January 1, 2001, (ii) any charitable trust until the termination of all charitable interests, and (iii) any trust created after December 31, 2000 if it is subject to the Traditional RAP unless the trust expressly authorizes such nonjudicial modification.

6) New Spendthrift protections which affect the rights of creditors and assignees to reach a trust under part V of the Trust Code.

7) Trustee's duty under section 736.0503 to pay expenses and obligations of a settlor of a revocable trust upon death.

8) Trustee's duty under section 736.05055 to file a notice of trust with regard to a revocable trust upon the death of a settlor.

9) Trustee's duties under section 736.0813 to provide to qualified beneficiaries (or their designated representatives under 736.0306) (i) notification of the existence of an irrevocable trust, the identity of the trustee and their rights to trust accountings, (ii) a copy of the trust agreement and to account, and (iii) respond to requests for relevant information about the assets, liabilities, and particulars relating to the trust administration

10) Rights of third parties other than the trustee or beneficiary under sections 736.1013-736.1017

Florida Estate Planning Lawyers often tell clients of the many advantages of a Florida trusts. When a client leaves property to heirs in a trust instead of outright, they can control how the property is used. The control can violate public policy or law, but often good estate planning can control the property without risk of having the control stricken. Some of the major advantages are:

1. That a trust can provide a mechanism for better management and investment than the individuals may be capable of on their own.
2. That a trust can prevents the beneficiary(s) from using all of the proceeds quickly, or wasting it on unnecessary items.
3. Than a trust can protect the assets from the claims of creditors.
4. That a trust creates separate property that can be free of claims of a spouse upon divorce or the beneficiary's death.
5. That a trust allows the creator to control the disposition of the property instead of the beneficiary.

If you are interested in preserving your assets, managing their use, avoiding Florida Probate you should talk with a Florida Estate Planning Attorney about setting up a Florida Living Trust or Florida Irrevocable Trust.

When you create a Florida Revocable Trust, your Florida Estate Planning Attorney should advise you on how to title accounts.

One common question is about checking accounts. In most cases, the title (ownership) of the checking account should be changed to the name of the Florida Living Trust or Florida Revocable Living Trust, or Trustee of the trust. If on the date of death, the amount in a personal account has not become property of the trust, it may be necessary to open a Florida probate.

NOTE: The checks do not need to show the trust name and reference to the trust may be omitted for check cashing. The signature cards need to be updated to reflect the way in which checks will be signed. When doing this its best not to close the accounts as outstanding checks could bounce and create unnecessary expenses.

For more information on creating a Florida Revocable Trust or maintaining your Florida Living Trust, you should contact a Florida Trust Lawyer.