Clients often ask to have a trust prepared, not knowing the differences between a revocable trust and an irrevocable trust. One of the most important questions to ask oneself when undertaking trust planning is what your goals are. Are they to avoid probate, to protect assets from creditors, or to...
ESTATE PLANNING TIPS: HOW TO KEEP HARMONY IN THE FAMILY
While not a legal matter, when doing estate planning an important aspect is how your loved ones will react to your choices of Executor, health care agent, power of attorney, etc. The last thing most people want is for their children or other loved ones to fight or become hostile to...
Three Key Duties of a Florida Personal Representative
A personal representative, also called an executor, is the person chosen to administer a deceased person’s estate. In doing so, a personal representative is held to the highest standard of care and must act in the best interests of the estate’s beneficiaries. Thus, the personal representative plays a key role in the...
A Guide To Organizing Your Estate Plan
One of the simple things clients can do in terms of getting their affairs in order is to make a detailed list of their assets, with account numbers, and telephone numbers, so that when something happens to him/her, family members will know where the assets are and can easily access them. ...
Estate Planning for Florida Snowbirds
With winter in full swing, snowbirds are flocking to Florida to escape the frigid northern temperatures. Moving south for the winter requires a lot of preparation. However, one preparatory step that many snowbirds fail to consider is estate planning. As a snowbird, living in more than one state during the year can...
Three Common Florida Will Provisions
At a minimum, everyone over the age of 18 years old should have a will. With a will, you can plan for the distribution of your property after death, appoint a personal representative, and make other important decisions. Although every will is different, most wills contain several common provisions. In this article,...
4 Reasons to Avoid Probate in Florida
Probate in Florida is a court-supervised process in which a deceased person’s assets are distributed to his or her surviving heirs and creditors. One of the advantages of estate planning is that it avoids the probate process altogether. Buy why avoid probate? In this article, we share four reasons to avoid...
A Comparison of the Estate Administration Process: New York and Florida
Clients often ask about the differences between the estate administration process in New York and Florida. The most significant difference is that once a person is appointed Executor or Administrator of an Estate, the process is essentially over. In Florida, it is ongoing and it is necessary to take several...
Important Estate Planning Documents for Florida Snowbirds
Florida is a popular destination for snowbirds looking to escape the cold winter months. Although moving to Florida for several months of the year requires meticulous preparation, there is one important area that many snowbirds overlook: estate planning. Snowbirds have unique needs that can only be effectively addressed through the estate planning...
What is Summary Administration in Florida?
In Florida, summary administration is an expedited probate process that does not require the appointment of a personal representative. Summary administration holds several advantages over traditional probate, which tends to be lengthy and expensive. Therefore, for qualifying estates, summary administration is generally a good option. In this article, we discuss summary administration...