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Estate Planning

Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

Covers estate planning legal issues, cases, and news with a focus on Florida State Law.
By David M. Goldman

Post Frequency: 6.7/day

Last Entry: May 14, 2013 at 09:50:20

The Advantages of Living Trusts: 6 Ways a Living Trust can Benefit Your Estate Plan

Posted on May 14, 2013
Probate can have the reputation of being a nightmare, and many hate the idea of going through this process. If the idea of transferring your assets through probate daunts you, then you will be happy to know that living trusts can avoid probate. The probate process is usually more expensive and time consuming than having a living trust set up to transfer assets...

3 Important Reasons to Use an Estate Planning Attorney to Create a Durable Power of Attorney

Posted on May 09, 2013
A Durable Power of Attorney (DPA) allows you, the "principal", to designate someone, the "agent", to act on your behalf. Depending on the DPA, your agent will have authority to oversee your financial affairs or your medical treatment. Having a DPA is a good idea, but only if it is done properly...

The Future of Estate Planning: The Multigenerational Life Plan

Posted on May 09, 2013
Over the last year I worked with an intern in our office of a Law Review article for Texas Tech University. This article describes problems with current estate planning and takes the premise that most estate planners have become lazy because of advancements in technology...

6 Quick Questions to Help You Effectively Decide When is a Trust Better than a Will in Florida

Posted on May 07, 2013
A Florida Will is one of the most basic estate-planning documents. A Will allows the grantor to devise his or her property with very limited encumbrances; however, there are issues that are better addressed with other estate-planning documents - like a Trust...

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Taking Advantage of the Liberal Asset Protection Laws in Florida

Posted on May 04, 2013
Each state has different asset protection laws. Florida's asset protection laws are considered one of the most liberal ones. Therefore, it is a good idea to discuss your case with an estate-planning attorney with expertise in asset protection to take advantage of the liberal asset protection laws of Florida...

What Is Involved in Florida's Probate Process? Some Rules of Probate in Florida that You Should Know

Posted on May 03, 2013
The grapevine is full of rumors about probate. Some of them are true, but many of them are more than misguided. The fact that each state has a different probate procedure makes the process harder to understand. If you want to get a general grasp about some basic rules of probate in Florida, then this blog is for you...

There is a Vacancy in My Trust - Appointment of a Successor Trustee in Florida

Posted on April 19, 2013
Every trust needs at least one trustee to administer the trust and to carry on its terms. If a person designated as a trustee ceases to act as one, then a vacancy in the trust occurs and it might need to be filled. Succession of trustees is perhaps one of the most common occurrences in the administration of a trust...

A Checklist to Update Your Florida Estate Plan

Posted on April 15, 2013
Updating your estate plan is as important as having one. Many find it easy to procrastinate about updating their estate plan because they do not want to spend the money on a Florida estate-planning attorney. However, a lot of money can be lost through missed estate planning opportunities and family legal battles over out of date estate planning documents...

Probate: Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration in Florida

Posted on April 08, 2013
This process lets someone who paid for a decedent's final expenses, from the funeral or from the last illness, to be reimbursed from the assets of the decedent's estate. This process is only available if the decedent did not leave any real estate and the only assets in the estate are either exempt from creditor's claims or do not exceed the total amount of the final expenses...

Formal Administration vs. Summary Administration in Florida

Posted on April 05, 2013
There are to main types of probate administration in Florida: summary administration and formal administration. Summary administration can only be used when the total value of decedent's assets subject to probate are $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years...

How to Use a Florida Durable Power of Attorney

Posted on April 03, 2013
Using a Durable Power of Attorney in Florida When you have been appointed as an agent by a person to act as an attorney-in-fact for that person, you must keep three important ideas in mind. Agent Authority Because you are acting as an agent, you are obligated to either act in accordance with specific instructions given to you by the principal (the person who appointed you) and/or in that person's best interest...

General Guidelines for Successor Trustees in Florida

Posted on April 02, 2013
The management of a revocable living trust is intended to be a simple, private, inexpensive matter handled by the Settlor and those people the Settlor chooses, without court intervention. It is always a good idea to seek professional advice when taking over the management of another persons trust...

How to Transfer the Decedent's Property in Florida to Your Name

Posted on March 30, 2013
Below is a summary of the more common ways that property is transferred in the state of Florida when someone dies. Somebody just died leaving you an interest in a piece of property. To reclaim your interest in the property you must prove that you own it by documenting the transfer from the estate of the decedent to you...

The Guardianship, the Guardian, and the Ward

Posted on March 29, 2013
The Guardian's Powers and Duties The guardian of an incapacitated person may exercise only those rights that have been removed from the ward and delegated to the guardian. The guardian of a minor has to exercise the powers of a plenary guardian. A guardian has the following duties: Duty to file an initial guardianship report...

How to Obtain Your Devised or Inherited Property from a Florida Resident

Posted on March 29, 2013
When someone dies, his or her assets will not necessarily be distributed automatically to those entitled to them. If a person dies with a Will that devises his or her assets to you, then probate is necessary to carry out the instructions of the Will. Similarly, probate becomes necessary when a person dies owning anything in his or her name individually...

Guardianship in Florida

Posted on March 28, 2013
What is Guardianship? Guardianship is a legal process in which the circuit court appoints someone to protect and exercise the legal rights of an incapacitated person. A person is incapacitated if it is judicially determined that the person lacks capacity to manage at least some of his or her property, or to meet at least some of the essential health and safety requirements...

Florida Pet Trust

Posted on March 24, 2013
We often get questions regarding the creation of Pet Trusts in Florida. Florida Statutes have provided for pet trusts for many years but they do not always make sense. I have attached a document which you can use to help gather information that will be necessary to determine if a Florida Pet trust is right for your family or you should be looking to add separate provisions to your Florida Will or Florida Revocable Trust to deal with taking care of your pets in the case that you are unable to...

The Effects of Using a Deed to Transfer Real Estate Property Ownership to Avoid Probate

Posted on March 20, 2013
You can transfer ownership of your real estate property through probate, or by signing an instrument known as a deed.1 Using a deed to transfer ownership of your real estate allows you to bypass probate, but there are some risks associated with this alternative...

Recent Florida Law Changes Make having a Will More Important.

Posted on January 04, 2013
What happens if I die without a will in Florida? Florida probate law has changed recently with regard to people who die intestate (without a will) and are married. If you have no descendants, your entire intestate estate will go to your spouse. This does not typically include your home or other non-probate assets...

When is IRS Form 706, United States Estate Tax Return, Due?

Posted on January 03, 2013
While personal income tax returns and gift tax returns for taxable gifts made during 2011 are due on or before April 17, 2012, estate tax returns for decedents who died during 2011 are not due on April 17, 2012. If a decedent who died in 2011 is required to file a federal estate tax return or a generation-Skipping Tax Return, it is due on or before nine months after the decedent's date of death...

Will Contest and Summary Administration

Posted on January 01, 2013
In Florida when a Summary Administration is used to Probate an estate the Florida Probate must be converted to a Formal Administration to allow for a will contest. There are time limits to object to a will so it is important to file documents timely...

Estate Tax Law Worry Farmers

Posted on November 06, 2012
John Buchanan has an article in Central Florida's Agri-Leader which was published on October 24th which discusses the effects of the expiration of the estate tax exemption on farmers. Many farmers end up loosing farms because of estate taxes and the inability of their families to become liquid enough to pay the estate tax bills...

Childless and Aging? Time to Designate a Caregiver

Posted on September 14, 2012
Phyllis Korkki with the NY Times wrote an article dealing with some of the problems our aging society has when they have no children or natural caregivers and ways to help deal with it. In the article, she quotes me in dealing with some ways you can use legal documents that can be prepared by an attorney to deal with giving someone legal rights to help you make decisions if and when you need it...

Florida Court Finds that Settlor Lacked Requisit Capacity to Execute Trust Amendment

Posted on September 10, 2012
In the Florida case of Jervis v. Tucker, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D349 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) Bernice J. Meikle executed a revocable trust agreement in 1991, which she subsequently amended by executing a first amendment. Her trust, as amended by the first amendment, provided that Meikle's power to revoke or amend the trust would be suspended upon her being "adjudicated incapacitated by a court of appropriate jurisdiction...

Refusal to follow preference for appointment of Personal Representative was an abuse of discretion

Posted on September 07, 2012
In the case of Bowdoin v. Rinnier, 81 So. 3d 582 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012) The Decedent died intestate, leaving her husband, and a minor child as her sole heirs. Decedent's mother, filed a petition for administration seeking her appointment as personal representative...

Last Will and Embezzlement

Posted on September 07, 2012
New movie about financial exploitation of the elderly.

Life Estate's May Put Child's Interest In Home At Risk to Creditors

Posted on September 05, 2012
In Florida many parents create Life Estate Deeds with their children in an attempt to avoid Probate on their homes. A Florida Life Estate Deed is a document which changes the ownership of a home or other piece of real estate. Essentially it creates a present interest and a future interest...

Who Ownes your Itunes Account? and Bruce Willis

Posted on September 04, 2012
Last week there were several articles which brought light to many that our online identities are just licenses which will expire upon out death. While this concept is new to some, most lawyers understand this. Unfortunately there appear to be some who do not understand that we are dealing with licenses which expire upon death, because they are recommending that their clients deal with these assets using a traditional will...

Trusts and Florida Homestead Property

Posted on August 29, 2012
Florida is a rather unique state in rights associated with homestead exemptions from forced sale. In a nutshell, it is nearly impossible for creditors to force the sale of a homestead (a situation famously highlighted by OJ Simpson, who purchased a large estate in Florida in part to avoid creditors)...

Filing a Will Caveat

Posted on August 28, 2012
Will caveats: one more reason why hiring an attorney is a good idea for estate planning. Will caveats are, basically, objections to a will. For example, let's say Father dies, leaving his entire estate to his niece. That is awfully nice of him, but it probably won't make his two children happy...

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