When is a Florida probate required? If a Jacksonville resident dies owning anything in his or her name individually a probate is necessary in Florida. In addition, if a person living in another state owns real property (a home or land) in Florida there will also need to be a…
For those working with Jacksonville Elder Law Attorneys the Florida news that a daughter living with her elderly mother was accused of stealing her mother’s money to fuel a gambling and drug addiction was not a shock. In attempting to ascertain the Florida elder mother’s mental state, the investigators turned…
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.
Jacksonville Estate Planning Attorneys working in Jacksonville Beach watch for Florida issues about gay and same-sex partner benefits. More and more Florida counties are making positive steps by providing health care and other benefits for same-sex couples. Central Florida’s publicly owned Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) now offers Florida Domestic Partnership…
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…