It could be happening again in Florida, The Palm Beach Post has a report on a similar case. If you do not have a Florida Living Will now is the time to get one.
Karen Weber did not have a Florida Living Will when she suffered a seizure back in November. Her husband wants to disconnect the feeding tube that has kept her alive for the past 7 months.
The courts have not ruled on Ms. Weber’s condition and it is Mr. Weber’s intent to keep it a private matter.
Florida LLC’s are one of the best choices for a new business entity. When thinking of forming a company, may people only look for low taxes and protection from liability.
Unfortunately, many are misinformed as to the protection that a corporation can offer. While it is true that a corporation and a Limited liability company can both protect a persons personal assets from corporate liability (in most cases), only the properly created Florida LLC can protect your business assets from personal liability.
If someone sues you and wins, they can take your stock in your corporation just like they could take your stock in GM. Once they own your stock, they can sell the company, fire you, and liquidate the company. If this happened to you it could cost you your livelihood.
Seven weeks ago, I got a new puppy. I was thinking of a way to protect myself from Florida’s Strict Liability for Dog Bites. Most states have a one free bite rule, but Florida does not and makes the owner of the Dog liable for all damage by the dog from the first bite.
In walks the Florida Revocable Trust. I began thinking that if you set up a separate revocable trust that owned the dog, you could transfer the liability of the dog’s future actions to the revocable trust.
I began reading the Florida Statutes and sure enough the statute states that the “owner” is the party liable. Figuring that this must be too easy, I kept reading. It seems that when the state creates statutes, the often hide the real details in some other part of the statute. Sure enough after a few minutes I found that “Owner” as defined in the statute means any person, firm, corporation, or organization possessing, harboring, keeping, or having control or custody of an animal or, if the animal is owned by a person under the age of 18, that person’s parent or guardian.
For families living in Florida, choosing a guardian for their minor children is a primary reason why a Florida Will is such an important document to create and keep updated.
Often choosing who will care for your children is a difficult decision. Many families find it the hardest decision that they make in terms of estate planning. This is one area where it is common for the husband and wife to have completely different views of who should raise their children in the event that both the husband and wife die prior to the children reaching the age of 18.
First it is important to know that the planning is more important than agreeing with your spouse. Although it can create some tension between spouses, it is important to know that should one of you predecease the other, and then the surviving spouse gets to make their own decision anyway. Also, as long as one of you lives until the children reach the age of 18, it will not matter who you choose.
Before making a Florida will you should think these things before drafting or having your Florida will modified.
In Florida to create a valid will the person needs to know what assets they have, who they are giving them to, and have an understanding of who they would go to if they were not listed in the Florida Will.
In addition, there are specific execution requirements to make sure the resulting document is a valid Florida will. The Jersey Estate Planning Blog has a nice summary of what should be considered when creating a will.
Florida QPRT (Qualified Personal Residence Trust): Options:
Often clients want to make sure their homes go to their children. In Florida, a homestead will automatically go to your descendants and be protected. One of the problems is that although the home is generally not subject to Florida Probate, the value of the home at the time of their death is subject to estate tax. Once option of leaving a home to children is to use a special trust designed for the home. There are many advantages and disadvantages of using a Qualified Personal Residence Trust in Florida (QPRT).
Andrew Ewalt recently wrote an article on this on his Legal Blog where he listed the basic Pros and Cons. It is important that there are risks involved with a QPRT and each persons situation needs to be evaluated to determine if this is the right way to deal with the transfer of one’s Florida Homestead. QPRT’s are not for everyone, and many who used them in the past have ended them because of the changes in tax laws and how they impact their individual estate plan. As with all Florida Estate Planning it is important to review and update you estate plan on a regular basis.
POWERS OF THE ATTORNEY IN FACT AND LIMITATIONS IN FLORIDA
Except as otherwise limited by statute (below), by other applicable law, or by the durable power of attorney, the attorney in fact has full authority to perform, without prior court approval, every act authorized and specifically enumerated in the durable power of attorney. Such authorization may not include:
1. Perform duties under a contract that requires the exercise of personal services of the principal;
PROPERTY SUBJECT TO DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY IN FLORIDA.
Unless otherwise stated in the Florida durable power of attorney, the durable power of attorney applies to any interest in property owned by the principal, including, without limitation, the Principal’s interest in all real property, including homestead real property; all personal property, tangible or intangible; all property held in any type of joint tenancy, including a tenancy in common, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or a tenancy by the entirety; all property over which the principal holds a general, limited, or special power of appointment; chooses in action; and all other contractual or statutory rights or elections, including, but not limited to, any rights or elections in any probate or similar proceeding to which the principal is or may become entitled.
If you have questions about the validity or scope of your Florida Durable Power of Attorney Contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer
Once an Agent (Attorney in fact) receives written notice which requires a signature, their powers under the Durable Power of Attorney are suspended until the court determines incapacity. The court may reinstate the Durable Power of Attorney for an emergency, when a petition if file upon the court showing the nature of the emergency, the property or matter involved, and the power to be exercised by the attorney in fact.
Notwithstanding the provisions above, a proceeding to determine incapacity must not affect any authority of the attorney in fact to make health care decisions for the principal, including, but not limited to, those defined in chapter 765, unless otherwise ordered by the court. If the principal has executed a health care advance directive designating a health care surrogate pursuant to chapter 765, the terms of the directive will control if the two documents are in conflict unless the durable power of attorney is later executed and expressly states otherwise.
If the person has not received written notice of the proceeding for which they were required to sign for, any third party may rely upon the authority granted in a durable power of attorney that is not conditioned on the principal’s lack of capacity to manage property until the third party has received the required notice. A third party may, but need not, require the attorney in fact to execute an affidavit.
If the Durable Power of Attorney is deployment contingent, any third party may rely upon the authority granted in a durable power of attorney to manage property as defined in Florida Statute 744.102(11)(a) only after receiving the affidavits provided in paragraphs (c) and (d), and such reliance shall end when the third party has received notice.
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A Miller Trust is a irrevocable qualified income trust used for Florida Medicaid planning. Generally, when an individuals income is over the limits a Miller trust or Medicaid Qualified Income Trust can help.
Generally a Medicaid Qualified Income Trust will distribute your income in such a way that your income will not disqualify you.
If your live in Florida and you do not qualify for Medicaid coverage because your income is over the limits, Contact a Florida Elder Law Attorney
