Year: 2020
One More Reason To Notice Those Pesky Creditors!
In Jones v. Golden, (No. SC13-2536), the Florida Supreme Court settled the circuit court split regarding when a reasonably ascertainable creditor is barred if the creditor was never served a Notice to Creditors. Harry Jones’s estate was opened in 2007 and a Notice to...
How Do You Select a Trustee?
Estate planning requires many decisions, not the least of which is whom to appoint as an agent to act under a health care surrogate and a durable power of attorney and whom to appoint as a personal representative and a trustee. How do you select these individuals?...
Prepare for Increased Taxes in 2013
As many of you know, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 2010 Health Care Act on June 28, 2012. What you may not understand is how this decision will affect your tax burden in 2013. It is more likely than not that the 3.8% surtax (the “Surtax”) on net investment income...
Who Gets the Pretty Lamp? The Biggest Fights in Estates Can Be Over the Smallest Items!
Siblings tend to be reasonable when it comes to dividing their parents’ estate, especially when divided in equal shares between the siblings. However, it is nearly impossible to equalize the tangible personal property (TPP) , i.e., the furniture, the artwork, the...
A Beneficiary Has an Interest in a Trust… Are Those Assets Included in a Divorce Equitable Settlement?
Many parents create trusts which benefit their children and grandchildren. Often, the trustee’s decision as to what to distribute to a child or grandchild is fully discretionary. Alternatively, the trustee can be directed o distribute for health, education,...
WHEW! Relief For Co-Executors Whose Attorney Did Not Elect Alternate Valuation…
A Form 706 is required for a taxable estate or for an estate electing portability. Generally, assets are valued as of the date of death to determine an estate tax. The Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) grants a relief provision if, for example, the stock market...
Is It Tenants By The Entireties Ownership (“TBE”)?
Tenants By the Entireties ownership (“TBE”) is a form of joint tenancy ownership in real or personal property between a husband and wife. Four “unities of title” are required for joint tenancy ownership: (1) unity of interest (each joint tenant must have an equal...
Act Soon…Discounted Gifts Will Become Harder…
Individuals and their attorneys are very creative when planning to reduce estate taxes. One technique is to transfer an interest in a family owned family limited partnership (“FPL”), at a discounted value, to a family member while keeping the entity in the family....
Be Careful Who You “Friend”!
A recent email from my colleague, Joe Corsmeier, who writes an excellent blog on lawyer discipline and various ethics opinions, points out an issue of which practicing lawyers need to be aware. In a recent Miami case, a motion was made to recuse a judge because the...
Another Reason to Keep Harmony in the Home 🙂
Generally under Section 732.802 of the Florida Statutes (the “Slayer Statute”) if someone murders another person, the murderer can NOT inherit from the person they murdered. That makes sense but what happens when the murdered person left assets to the murderer’s...