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Articles Posted in Estate Planning
A Cautionary Tale, will your Will be Admitted to Probate?
[Florida Probate: The court supervised process of gathering the deceased person’s assets and distributing them to their beneficiaries.]
You know the importance of having your last will and testament prepared. -You’ve heard those ads telling you to prepare your will yourself.-You think that having an attorney prepare your will is too expensive.
You should know this. Not having a Jacksonville Attorney either prepare your will or review what you have prepared from those “do your will yourself” kits will cost you and your family in the end.
Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog nominated for Top Estate Planning Blog- Please vote
Our Blog was nominated for one of the top estate planning blogs. Please take a few moments and visit the site, register, and vote for our blog if you like it. You vote by adding a comment and mentioning our blog in the comment. Thanks
Each comment is counted as a vote toward the supported blog. To submit a comment, visitors need to log on to their free Communities account. If you haven’t previously registered, you can do so on the LexisNexis Estate Practice & Elder Law Community for free. The comment box is at the very bottom of the page. The comment period for nominations ends on March 31, 2011. On April 1, we will post the Top 25 Estate, Probate and Elder Law Blogs of 2011 based on votes received. Thereafter, our community will vote on the Top Blog through a Zoomerang survey. I anticipate the final announcement to be made on or before April 15.
“Do it yourself” Wills: Prepare According to Florida Law
Preparing your will without the assistance of a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer may cost your family future trouble and costs. Your Will must be clearly worded, otherwise, your intentions may be disputed by family members.
A Florida Will contest may result in a lengthy and expensive court battle, which is exactly what you did not intend for your surviving family. A Last Will and Testament must meet the requirements of the Florida Statutes. If your Florida Will is not signed and witnessed in the proper fashion, a Probate Judge may refuse to admit your will to Probate, resulting in your property being distributed as if you had no Will at all.
To avoid any challenge to your Florida Will, it is advisable that you consult with a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer . An Attorney will prepare your Last Will and Testament according to your directions and supervise the execution (signing) of your Will to ensure that it is witnessed according to Florida Law.
Estate Planning and Criminal Defense Lawyer
We often do not think of Criminal Defense in connection with Florida estate planning. We have a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer who has been helpful in dealing with crimes committed by fiduciary agents. Every month we get contacted by individuals who have had their parents or families life savings depleted because someone with a Power of Attorney or other fiduciary position thinks that they can treat the other persons funds as their own. Not only are we able to help represent the individuals who have lost the money, but we often represent other family members that have lost their inheritance because of the bad acts of others.
Often it is a difficult choice to decide whether to just go after recover of the money or to also package the information for the state to review for possible criminal charges. Florida has very strict laws when it comes to financial abuse of the elderly.
If you believe that a Power of Attorney or trustee or other person with a fiduciary responsibility has acted inappropriately, contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or a Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer to discuss your situation. You may also review the Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyers Blog or more information on this and other financial crimes.
Estate Tax, Inheritance Tax, What about Both?
According to a Market Watch article by Bill Bischoff, on the Worst Places to Die, New Jersey Tops the list with a combined effective estate and inheritance tax rate of 54.1 %.
Estate tax is bad enough but several states have an inheritance tax. Yes you could actually leave money to a family member and they could be charged a percentage of your assets by the state they live in. Florida residents are not subject to either a state inheritance tax or a state estate tax.
While 16 states have a state estate tax only 6 have inheritance taxes and two states have both (New Jersey and Maryland)
No Florida WIll Contest Can Fix This Problem.
When you have a blended family or children from different marriages it is very important to have estate planning that deals with the various possibilities. All to often the standard will or generic documents can produce undesired results.
Take for example a Husband and Wife who each have children from a prior marriage. Husband and wife each want to support each other in the even they pre-decease each other. The problem is created when the Husband dies first, and leaves everything to the wife. Now the wife dies and leave everything to her children, essentially disinheriting the husband’s children.
There are several ways a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer can address these issues and achieve the desired results of the husband and wife.
Probate Does Not Have to Be Deadly
The ABA Journal recently reported an unusual case when an attorney’s client was targeted for murder by his own brother. The parents of the brothers passed away leaving an unexpected $20 million dollar estate. The brother’s were the sole heirs of the estate, but apparently sharing the money was not in the one brothers plan. He was arrested for putting a murder contract out on his younger brother.
Money does crazy things to people. A consulting with a Ponte Vedra Estate Planning Law Firm may offer numerous ways in which you can provide for your heirs, which may prevent them from receiving too large of an inheritance at one time. Discussing the benefits of preparing a Florida will or Florida trust can be an important tool for anyone leaving assets to children or other family members.
If you are a named beneficiary in someone’s will, or if you expect a conflict with other beneficiaries, a Ponte Vedra Probate Firm can guide you through the probate procedure and any adversarial proceedings which may arise.
Florida Probate of Time Share Property
As a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer I get questions from Lawyers and clients all over the country on how to deal with a Florida Timeshare and if it is necessary to open a separate Florida Probate for the timeshare.
It is important to determine if there is any value in the Florida Timeshare property. To do this you may think about the following issues:
- Generally timeshares are worthless and hard to sell.
How do you Revoke or Amend your Florida Will?
If you have ever thought about changing or invalidating your Florida Will it is recommended that you speak with an Attorney at an Orange Park Estate Planning Firm, who is familiar with the Florida Statutes which govern the preparation and revocation of Florida Wills.
All Florida Wills are revocable until your death- as long as you are competent. A Florida Will can be revoked by writing or by an act. A Florida Will can be revoked by the preparation of a later Florida Will. A Florida Will can also be revoked by burning, tearing, defacing, or destroying the will if it is done so purposely and intentionally.
If you want to revoke a Florida Will and ensure that it is never used, it would be advisable to collect all copies and destroy them. If this is not possible, write the word REVOKED on the original Florida Will, along with the date, and your signature. You should prepare a new will before or at the same time as you revoke the old will in case you die before the new will is prepared. If a new will is not prepared, the court will consider that you died without a will and will base the distribution of your assets on the Florida intestate succession laws.