Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

February 20, 2008

Alabama NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® for Firearms Purchases

Alabama has joined the growing list of states in which we have a relationship with a lawyer who is familiar with the National Firearms Act’s requirements relating to the formation of trusts to purchase Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers). These include silencers, short barrel rifles, and machine guns.

If you are looking to create a Alabama NFA Gun Trust, please Contact us and we can help make sure your trust deals with the many unique issues surrounding owning these firearms in a Revocable Trust.

If you live in Alabama or another state and wish to create a NFA trust to protect your family and purchase NFA or regular firearms Contact a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® in your state.

February 19, 2008

Family Limited Partnerships and Valuations

by David M. Goldman

A common technique with large Florida Estate Planning is the use of FLP’s or Family Limited Partnerships. Neil Hendershot of the PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog summarized the recent highlights of the Heckerling Institute where they discussed those issues in detail.

The most important issues dealt with making sure there was

(1) not a gift on formation of a family limited partnership. This can be done by making sure the partnership is property funded and the capital accounts are credited. The recommendation was that during the next tax year he or she transfer partnership interest. This helps to avoid the argument that the transfer was contemplated at the time of the capital contribution. See Senda, T.C. Memo 2004-160 (July 12, 2004). One must also take this into consideration with additional contributions because they are valued with the amount given instead of a discounted valuation.

February 18, 2008

South Carolina NFA Gun Trust Lawyer®

by David M. Goldman

South Carolina has joined the growing list of states in which we have a relationship with a lawyer who is familiar with the National Firearms Act’s requirements relating to the formation of trusts to purchase Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers). These include silencers, short barrel rifles, and machine guns.

If you are looking to create a South Carolina NFA Gun Trust, please Contact us and we can help make sure your trust deals with the many unique issues surrounding owning these firearms in a Revocable Trust.

If you live in South Carolina or another state and wish to create a NFA trust to protect your family and purchase NFA or regular firearms Contact a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® in your state.

February 18, 2008

Wisconsin NFA Gun Trust Lawyer®

by David M. Goldman

Wisconsin has joined the growing list of states in which we have a relationship with a lawyer who is familiar with the National Firearms Act’s requirements relating to the formation of trusts to purchase Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers). These include silencers, short barrel rifles, and machine guns.

If you are looking to create a Wisconsin NFA Gun Trust, please Contact us and we can help make sure your trust deals with the many unique issues surrounding owning these firearms in a Revocable Trust.

If you live in Wisconsin or another state and wish to create a NFA trust to protect your family and purchase NFA firearms.

February 17, 2008

Fund your Revocable Trust

by David M. Goldman

The most common problem with Florida Estate Planning or estate planning in general is that those how are in the most need of the benefits a Florida Revocable Trust can offer are the ones who usually fail to fund their trust.

Creating a Florida Revocable Trust is only the beginning. No benefits are received by signing the documents. It is only when the Florida Revocable Trust is funded that the benefits of the trust can be used.

These benefits include avoiding delays in probate, reducing or eliminating the costs associated with a Florida Probate, and not having your assets or the distribution of your assets in the public record.

February 15, 2008

Another Reason to Have a Florida Durable Power of Attorney

by David M. Goldman

Mississippi’s Supreme court decision reinforces the importance of having a Durable Power of Attorney. A Florida Durable Power of Attorney can be one the most important Florida Estate Planning Documents, a Power of Attorney allows a person you “agent” or “attorney-in-fact” — to make financial decisions for you when you are unable to make these decisions for yourself.

In this case, Mrs. Goodlett admitted her mother, to a nursing home. During the mothers stay at the nursing home, Mrs. Goodlett developed two decubitus ulcers (bed sores), which required surgery. Mrs. Goodlett told the nursing home that she was going to sue the nursing home for negligence and sent them a medical authorization with permission to release Mrs. Goodlett’s medical records. Due to complications from a stroke, Mrs. Goodlett was unable to sign her own name to the medical authorization. The nursing home refused to release the medical records, claiming that because Mrs. Bernadette did not have a Power of Attorney over her mother, only Mrs. Goodlett could authorize the release of the medical records.

Mrs. Bernadette sued the nursing home on behalf of her mother for negligence.

February 15, 2008

Estate Taxes or Probate Fees

by David M. Goldman

As the Estate tax exemption continues to increase, fewer and fewer American families are subjected to the death Taxes. On the other hand this is creating a real problem with probate fees. Since fewer families are concerned with estate taxes, the overlook the fees associated with probate.

There are many techniques used to avoid the need for assets to be subjected to probate. These include: Joint accounts, payable on death designations, beneficiary designations, and Florida Revocable Trust . There are many issues that determine which of the methods is best for your particular situation.

With the increase in divorces and numbers of families with children from outside the current marriage, the Florida Revocable Trust often offers the best flexibility. It is important to evaluate a clients objectives, the risks associated with each method, and the costs.

February 14, 2008

Is your Enhanced Life Estate Deed Valid?

by David M. Goldman

All Florida Enhanced Life Estate Deed or Florida LadyBird Deed (Enhanced Life Estate Deed) are not created Equal.

In the past, I have had clients come to me for help when a title company would not accept the language on an Florida Enhanced Life Estate Deed or Florida LadyBird Deed (Enhanced Life Estate Deed). Each title company has specific language that they look for in the deed. As as result we have had several title companies review our deeds and make recommendations. We took these and complied them into a single form that satisfied all of their requirements.

If the title company is not happy with your current deed, they can refuse to write title insurance. As title insurance is required by every commercial lender in Florida when a home is sold, this can create a problem when you want to sell your home. In some cases, we have had to open or reopen a probate case to get the judge to issue an order to clear up the title concerns.

February 14, 2008

Pennsylvania National Firearms Gun Trust (NFA Class 3)

by David M. Goldman

Pennsylvania has joined the growing list of states in which we have a relationship with a lawyer who is familiar with the National Firearms Act’s requirements relating to the formation of trusts to purchase Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers). These include silencers, short barrel rifles, and machine guns.

If you are looking to create a Pennsylvania NFA Gun Trust, please Contact us and we can help make sure your trust deals with the many unique issues surrounding owning these firearms in a Revocable Trust.

If you live in Pennsylvania or another state and wish to create a NFA trust to protect your family and purchase NFA or regular firearms Contact a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® in your state.

February 13, 2008

Texas NFA Trust : Gun Trust Lawyer®

by David M. Goldman

We work with over 10 lawyers in Texas who help provide Gun Trusts to their clients. The Gun Trust lawyers® we work with are familiar with the National Firearms Act’s requirements relating to the formation of trusts to purchase Title II Firearms (sold by Class 3 SOT dealers). These include suppressors (aka silencers), short barrel rifles, and machine guns.

If you are looking to create a Texas NFA Gun Trust, please Contact us and we can help make sure your NFA trust deals with the many unique issues surrounding owning these firearms in a Revocable Trust.

If you are a lawyer licensed in any state and would like to work with us to provide NFA trusts to clients in your state, please Contact David Goldman a Florida Gun Trust Lawyer®.