Estate Planning
Is your will valid in Florida?
Writing a will is an important and basic estate planning step that few people take. A will that is valid and legal can be an effective way to spare your loved ones many of the stresses and complications that may arise after your death. You can also use a will to...
Assessing your ability to be an estate executor
Taking on the role of estate executor may seem like an honor, and the person who asks you to handle these duties certainly does honor you with the request. However, it is also a tremendous responsibility, and it may place you at risk of personal loss at worst and...
Accepting the role of estate executor
Someone you love has asked you to be the executor of his or her estate. This means your loved one wants to include your name in a will, designating you as the person responsible for handling the probate process and all it entails. Perhaps you were not even fortunate...
5 easy steps to begin your estate plan
Your decision to make an estate plan may have come following the death of a loved one or after hearing someone talk about the frustration of dealing with a parent’s estate with no will left behind. Along with the grief of losing a loved one, family members are often...
Is it possible to minimize the impact of estate taxes?
When planning your estate, you probably have questions about how best to provide for your family. Can you limit the time and costs of the probate process? How can you limit the impact that taxes have on your estate? Florida, unlike many other states, does not charge...
Estate Planning Issues for the Family Lawyer
Every family lawyer must have some knowledge of estate planning issues as you are advising your clients through dissolution of a marriage. Even something as simple as documenting in your file that you have advised the clients that they should consult an estate...
Views From a Former Member of a Grievance Committee: Hot Buttons For the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Attorney
I have had the great opportunity to be on three Grievance Committees (the “Committee”) for a total of nine years. I would like to say my participation on the Committee has been purely altruistic but my experience has taught me I am not often “purely altruistic”. I...
Beware Of The Use Of Preprinted Wills!
The Florida Supreme Court held in Aldrich v. Basile, 2014 WL 1240073, that, absent a residuary clause or proper devise of an asset, any after acquired property of a decedent shall pass according to Florida’s intestacy laws. Ms. Aldrich drafted her will using an “E-Z...
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?...
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...