Irrevocable Trust

June 2, 2011

Creating a Florida Dynasty Trust

Florida Dynasty Trusts are generally used to keep assets within your family members or descendants. The person who creates this type of trust usually has significant assets which are far in excess of $1,000,000 which they want to protect from the misuse or dissipation of family members. A Florida Dynasty Trust can also protect the assets within the trust from the reach of future creditors of your born and unborn family members.

Florida is a great state in which to create a Dynasty Trust. This type of trust is regulated by state law, so where a person decides to create the trust will govern which state’s law will regulate the trust. Florida’s state law allows for a person to create a Trust for the benefit of another (usually children or grandchildren) plus 360 years after that benefited person has died. This is a longer than many states that have a limit of 21 years after the death of the beneficiary who was alive at the time the trust was created.

There are many options that need to be considered when creating a Florida Dynasty Trust such as who the trust’s assets (income and/or principal) should vest in and which state law the trust should be interpreted under. A Florida Dynasty Trust may be able to protect your assets from creditors even though you live in another state. To contact a Florida Irrevocable Trust Attorney. For more information on Florida Trusts please contact us to discuss your specific goals and circumstances or visit the Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog for general information.

January 31, 2011

No Florida WIll Contest Can Fix This Problem.

by David M. Goldman

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.

July 8, 2010

Has Your Florida Trustee Provided an Accounting of the Florida Trust?

by David M. Goldman

With Florida Trust Litigation on the rise, it is important that trustees preform their duties properly.

One of the primary duties of a Florida Trust trustee is to keep accurate records of all acts performed by him in regards to the trust estate. In Florida, trustees have this duty, known as an accounting, which requires providing these records to the trust beneficiaries. The trustee’s accounting should be a reasonably understandable report from the date of the last accounting, or from the date on which the trustee became accountable, that adequately discloses the information required.

Fla. Stat. § 736.08135(2) states the requirements of an accounting:

a) The accounting must begin with a statement identifying the trust, the trustee furnishing the accounting, and the time period covered by the accounting.

June 12, 2010

Can a Trustee Resign? And how under Florida Law

by David M. Goldman

When a Florida Trust is created, the creator of the trust designates a trustee to monitor the trust. There is great responsibility that comes with being the trustee because this individual, or group of individuals handles the distributions to the beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust document. The terms may place numerous restrictions on the distributions made to beneficiaries or the trust may give broad discretion to the trustee to make the distributions. In addition, Florida law places additional requirements on a trustee that may not be apparent from the reading of the document. Circumstances can arise where a trustee wishes to resign their position as trustee.

In order to resign your position as trustee in Florida, you must comply with Florida statutory law. Florida Statute § 736.0705 governs the resignation of a trustee. It says that a trustee may resign if at least 30 days notice is given to all qualified beneficiaries, the settlor (creator) of the trust if still living, and all co-trustees. A trustee can also petition the court for resignation and then may be relieved of their position with the courts approval.

This does not mean that the trustee will escape liability for acts done before the trustee’s resignation. If the resigning trustee has committed some breach of their duties to the beneficiaries, they can still be held accountable for those acts. For more information on your Florida Revocable Trust or if you have any trust administration questions contact a Florida Trust Lawyer today.

March 13, 2010

Toyota Diminution of Value Lawsuits: Toyota Class Action Lawyer

by David M. Goldman

Whether you live in Florida, New York, California or any state and are the owner of a Toyota car, truck, or SUV, your Toyota Automobile may have just dropped in value. We all know there will be many Class Action Lawsuits against Toyota. Here is one class action that you may not have considered. Even if Toyota fixes the problems and no one is injured from a defect in your Toyota car, the recent bombardment of news has caused your automobile to decrease in value. You may ask, why is this on a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer’s website? What if you are the PR of an estate that owns a Toyota vehicle, a trustee of a trust that owns a vehicle, or the guardian of someone who owns a Toyota car subject to the recall? You may have a duty to investigate what claims of action you might have to avoid liability. Remember that by failing to investigate a claim or pursue one, you may be violating your fiduciary duty.

The good news that whether to pursue these types of claims is a simple one as they are almost always done on a contingency basis. If you have a potential claim you might want to contact Florida Toyota Class Action Lawyer Mike Ossi at (904) 399-0606 to talk about a claim.

July 14, 2009

When Do It Yourself Asset Protection Goes Wrong

by David M. Goldman

Attorney Kevin W Davidson of the Green Bay Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning Blog wrote an article on the pitfalls of Do it yourself asset protection where he talks about some of the problems with trying to protect your own assets.

Over the last 6 months the number of inquiries for asset protection have significantly increased. Unfortunately most of these people did not take action when they had significant assets without potential liabilities, but are only now beginning to consider it as the liabilities become a certainty. While there are things that can be done at this stage to protect, reduce the risk of loss, or increase the ability to negotiate one’s debts, it is always best to address these issues prior to problems arising.

If you would like to discuss Florida Asset Protection you should Contact a Florida Asset Protection Lawyer.

February 11, 2009

Automobile Trust and Florida Asset Protection

by David M. Goldman

Most residents of Jacksonville and Florida could benefit from a Florida Vehicle Trust if they have children who drive their vehicles or in the case that a judgment is in excess of their insurance limits.

A Florida Vehicle Trust protects your assets by holding title in a specifically designed trust. In Florida the owner and the driver of a Car, Motorcycle, or other vehicle is liable for any damage done by the driver of the vehicle.

Many parents are concerned about damage that their child, or a friend of their child’s may do when loaned the vehicle. Using a Vehicle Trust can protect your assets from excess liability that is created when the damage done by the driver and/or vehicle is in excess of the insurance on the automobile.

February 3, 2009

Medicaid Asset Protection Trust

by David M. Goldman

One very useful Medicaid planning technique involves the creation of an irrevocable Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. With a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust a person or couple can transfer some of their property to the trust to hold and manage for their benefit during their live with the remainder paid to their family after their death.

Example: David and Beth have assets in their savings and stock accounts of $250,000. They currently live off income from their investments, social security, and other retirement benefits. They are concerned that if they need nursing home care they will not have enough money to support their lifestyle and pay for the medical expenses for the remainder of their life.

Solution: David and Beth decide to transfer $150,000 to a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. The trust provides that all income is paid to them while alive and in the event one needs nursing home coverage under Medicaid the income is paid to the other. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the trust will terminate and distribute the remainder to their children. By using this type of irrevocable trust their assets are protected and they receive an income stream for their lives.

January 14, 2009

Appoint a Trust Protector For a Third-Party Created and Funded Special Needs Trust

by David M. Goldman

A third-party created and funded SNT can have a trust protector. At a minimum, the trust protector should can have the power to: (i) direct the trustee’s actions; (ii) receive financial-investment statements and accountings; (iii) terminate the trust (and have the assets be distributed to the remainder beneficiaries), (iv) remove and replace a trustee, and (v) direct or approve the reformation or amendment of the trust to reflect changes in the law and in order to comply with the settlor’s intent and purpose.

For tax reasons, a trust protector should not be “related or subordinate” to the settlor or the trust beneficiaries, within the meaning of IRC section 672(c).

January 12, 2009

How to compute MRDs: Life expectancy of beneficiary

by David M. Goldman

As long as the sole designated beneficiary is not the surviving spouse the RMD is the life expectancy of the designated Beneficiary.

Each years MRD’s is computed by dividing the prior year-end account balance by a life expectancy factor

(called the “Applicable Distribution Period” (ADP) or divisor) obtained from an IRS table,