What is a Florida will? A will is a written instrument, signed by the decedent and at least two witnesses in each others presence, that fulfills the requirements of Florida law. A will names the beneficiaries for the testator’s probate assets. The testator can also designate guardians for minor children…
After you die, you may have money, property, and other assets that were in your own name. Generally the assets which did not automatically become someone else’s upon your death are part of your probate estate. Many individuals attempt to make sure that there are no assets in their probate…
While many of you may be thinking that fewer Florida Probate cases will involve federal estate tax returns in 2011, the opposite is actually true. It seems with the new $5 Million estate tax exemption that most estates will not need to file a tax return. What most people do…
Who gets make the funeral arrangements for our parents? Why was Dad or Mom Cremated? How can I stop my mom, step-parent, parents significant other, or sibling from the improper disposition of my relatives remains? These are all questions dealing with the same issue: Who gets to make the decision…
I recently updated the Free Florida Probate Handbook to deal with many of the changes from this year’s legislature. If you have a previous copy or would like an undated version please let us know by requesting on this page.
Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPT) have become the latest rage in estate planning and asset protection. We have generally found that there are better ways of protecting assets from creditors by using traditional estate planning that has case-law history. In a recent US bankruptcy case, a DAPT was invalidated and…
DCF will reject Medicaid planning involving trusts and personal service contracts where a power of attorney is executed after 10/1/11 and the DPOA does not specifically authorize the ability to execute trusts or personal services contracts. If you are using forms for a POA or DPOA, you should have them…
Here is a link to the article I previously mentioned on the Trust Advisor Blog where they interviewed me on my thoughts on Steve Jobs Estate.
Today there is much speculation about what Steve Jobs’ will reading will reveal about his life. Steve Jobs has always been very quiet and protective about his personal life and we all know that he has been very good at protecting business secrets. I was interviewed today about what Steve…
I received an email regarding a video on Death and Estate Taxes. While most of these seem to be SPAM, this one actually had some decent background information that many of you may find valuable. The video states that 2% of the US population are subject to Death Taxes. I…