In Florida, courts are now permitted to judicially modify an irrevocable trust even when a trust is unambiguous. Historically, courts held the belief that the intent of the settlor, the person who creates a trust, should only be determined from the actual language of the trust document. This belief led…
In Florida, the Florida Probate Code and the Florida Trust code govern the administration of estates and trusts. These codes establish the rules and procedures for all probate matters such as the administration of a will. The Florida Legislature has recently amended the Florida Probate Codes. Attorneys Fees and Costs…
The rules that surround our retirement plan accounts and IRA’s can be tricky, especially when it comes to determining an individual’s required minimum distributions, or RMDs. RMDs are the minimum amounts that a retirement plan account owner must withdraw as required by the federal government. Generally, a person is required…
Naming a trust as a beneficiary of life insurance policy can have a huge benefit for people with large estates that are not taxable. It is also a great way to protect the insurance proceeds from future creditors and to help beneficiaries better manage their assets There are a few…
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that an inherited IRA is not a “retirement account” for purposes of protection under the Bankruptcy code. This now means that inherited IRAs are available to satisfy creditor’s claims in order to pay off debt. The court characterized an inherited IRA as money that…
Asset protection was previously out of reach for most Americans. Thanks to a new trust called the IPUG™ Trust, Asset Protection is affordable for the average family. In the past many families created trusts to avoid estate tax, but with the recent increases in the Federal estate tax exemptions, many…
Estate Planning for Digital Assets is becoming a more important part of our estate planning. While most online accounts simply expire when you die, Facebook has recently incorporated some changes to your account so you can specify what happens when you die. Until recently, loved ones of the deceased only…
The amount you can give anyone without having to file a gift tax return in 2015 remains the same as 2014 at $14,000. Remember that you can give your children, their spouses, your grandkids $14,000 each. In addition, if you are married, your spouse can also gift $14,000 to each…
If you have been told, don’t worry about your IRA it is protected because Florida has statutory protections for IRAs, you may have misunderstood or been mislead. While Florida does have statutory protection for inherited IRA’s, this protection only applies if your beneficiaries are residents of Florida at the time…
We often get asked about the iPug™ Trust and how it can be so different than a traditional revocable trust or a standard irrevocable trust. The iPug™ takes the best parts of an irrevocable trust and mixes them with the best parts of a revocable trust to create a new…