Year: 2019
Save Our Home Cap… Are you Saving Anything?
Most people understand the savings of their homestead tax exemption because the “exemption” is printed on the real estate tax bill but do you understand how the Save Our Home (“SOH”) cap works? Chapter 196 of the Florida Statutes allows each person who has legal or...
Are YOU a Responsible Person?
Most of the time we would like to think we are responsible. However in the payroll tax world that may NOT be good thing. In a business environment if you are an officer, no matter what type of officer, you could be deemed a “responsible person” and if the person in...
Retirement Benefits Received in a Divorce? Are They Protected From Creditors in Florida? You May be Surprised!
Under Florida law, retirement benefits, including individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) and inherited IRAs (“Retirement Benefits”) are generally exempt from creditors. However, what happens in a bankruptcy proceeding? As the Florida legislature opted out of the...
The Collision Between Dissolution Agreement and Beneficiary Designation
Often, in a dissolution agreement, the parties provide that the wealthier spouse provide a life insurance policy for the benefit of his or her less wealthy spouse to supplement or completely provide for child support and spousal obligations should the wealthier spouse...
Are You Entitled to A Trust Accounting?
As a current or contingent beneficiary of a trust are you entitled to an accounting? It depends for what accounting period you request. This issue was addressed in Hilgendorf v. Estate of Coleman. In 2000, Thelma Coleman (“Thelma”) created a revocable trust for her...
Personal Representatives MUST be Certain to Notice Ascertainable Creditors!
Under Florida law if you are acting as a personal representative you must carefully review the decedent’s credit cards, mail, etc to be sure that you notice all ascertainable creditors. A recent case, Golden v. Jones,...
Revised Florida Decanting Statute… Effective July 1, 2018
A revised Florida statute permits decanting for more types of trusts. Unlike the decanting of wine, pouring wine from one container to another container, decanting, for legal purpose, is “pouring” assets from one trust to another, instead of distributing assets...
Be proactive with the anticipated reduction of the estate and gift tax exclusions.
When the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2012, the “Bush Tax Cuts” are set to expire. Among the many provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) that will be impacted are the estate, gift and generation skipping transfer (GST) taxes. Of most importance...
You are Acting as a Personal Representative. Does the IRS need to Know?
If you act as a Personal Representative (PR) one of your duties is to make sure that all taxes have been filed and will be filed. Unless very close to the decedent, most PRs have little idea of the decedent’s tax situation and have no idea whether the decedent owes...
Acting as a Personal Representative? Make Sure Creditors Receive Notice!
If you are acting as a personal representative (“PR”) of an estate, then one duty is to make sure that creditors of an estate, such as medical providers, ambulance services, credit card companies, etc., receive notice of the decedent’s death so the creditor has the...