The stage has been set for a estate contest concerning the estate of Gail Posner. Gail is the daughter and heiress of the late millionaire business executive Victor Posner. In her recent will admitted to probate, Gail left $3 million in a Florida Pet Trust fund for the care of…
Articles Posted in Estate Planning
Naming Alternate Beneficiaries in Florida Estate Planning Documents
An alternate beneficiary is a person or entity that you name in your Florida Will or Florida Revocable Trust to receive a gift or devise in the event that the direct beneficiary does not outlive you or is not fit to receive the gift because of a legal reason, disclaimer,…
Digital Asset Trust and Picture Sharring
Digital Asset Protection Trust can help preserve your pictures and other website information after you die or if you become incapacitated. Most picture sharing websites promote the freedom to assign ones property rights to another. While all of these websites prohibit reselling the account to another, Flickr was the only…
What a Prenuptial Agreement Can and Cannot Protect?
According to a recent statistic in the USA Today, a poll found that only 4% of married couples in the United States have a premarital or prenuptial agreement. Florida was reported as having one of the country’s worst divorce rates in 2009. Due to this alarming rate, Florida allows couples…
Gary Coleman’s Will Contest
During the late 1970’s through mid 1980’s, Gary Coleman became a promising young star on the television sitcom Different Strokes. His character’s catchphrase “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” made numerous people laugh during the shows 8 year run. Sadly after his passing and subsequent cremation, his relatives will not be…
Florida Estate Planning is Important for Women Too
As generations grow older, more and more women will find that they have significant assets worth giving to others when they pass away. In most parts of the world women have a longer life expectancy and commonly marry older men. This means that there is a good chance a wife…
Time is Running Out on the 2 Year Rolling GRAT
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts are used in the United States to make large financial gifts to beneficiaries without paying a U.S. gift tax. A GRAT is a trust with a specific life or term, usually anything longer than 2 years. In most cases a wealthy grantor transfers assets to the…
Lawmakers Considering Billionaire Estate Surtax
According to Forbes Magazine the United States has over four hundred billionaires. Currently, three Liberal members of the Senate are working on a plan that calls for a 10% estate “billionaire surtax” that would go into effect retroactively. This would raise the tax rate to 65% on all estates that…
The Florida Slayer Statute
In Florida, it is a common principle of law that criminals should not profit from their crimes. Therefore, it follows that a murderer should not be able to inherit from the estate of their victim. The most common, but unfortunate event that would trigger a slayer statute would be when…
Choosing Your Florida Personal Representative
Being named the “Personal Representative” or “Executor” of someone’s estate under a Florida Will should be a decision made after consider several factors. Although many people may be tempted to name their spouse or one of their children as personal representative, there are certain qualities one should look in a…