Many Florida residents are interested in setting up a viable estate plan. Doing this by taking all the necessary steps may avoid confusion about the decedent's wishes. However, failing to discuss the plan with adult children may lead to family squabbles and disappointment. Adult children, or in some cases grandchildren, may feel that their inheritance was shortsighted. This happens most often when one child inherits Read More
IS A HOLOGRAPHIC WILL VALID IN FLORIDA?
The state of Florida has unusual laws affecting holographic wills. A holographic will, or a last will and testament that has been written out entirely by hand by the testator, may be considered equal to any other will and sent through probate normally, so long as it fulfills the other requirements of Florida law. Florida requires that a will be signed by the testator and two witnesses in order for it to be valid. Read More
WHAT IS A LIVING WILL AND DO I NEED ONE?
Although people in Florida may have heard of a living will, they may be unsure of exactly what it is and whether it makes sense for them to have one. Living wills are effectively a person's directions of how they want to be treated in the event certain medical situations occur and they are no longer able to voice their decisions due to their incapacity. A living will can be an important part of the estate planning Read More
ADMINISTERING A FLORIDA TRUST
When someone is appointed as a trustee for an estate, the position comes with multiple duties and responsibilities. Because of the numerous tasks involved, it is important that a selected trustee be someone who is honest, trustworthy and organized. The first job a trustee will have is to administer the trust according to its terms and in the interests of the beneficiaries. A trustee owes a duty of loyalty to the Read More
FINDING OUT THE VALUE OF AN ESTATE USING AN APPRAISER
When an individual in Florida inherits something from a relative's estate, it could be difficult to know what the inheritance is worth. A professional appraiser may be able to help a person understand the value of the assets and property that he or she might receive from a benefactor's estate. Whether an appraisal is done for the purpose of valuing an estate, buying insurance, dividing up assets or pinpointing the Read More
FLORIDA SURVIVORS MAY HAVE RIGHTS TO PROBATE ASSETS
When people die, their wills may fail to account for the needs of all their remaining relatives. Those who remarry or start new families, for instance, might not include their old families in new will documents. In such cases, Florida state law mandates that if these survivors were the spouses or children of the deceased, they should receive some assets during the administration of a probate estate. According to the Read More
CONTESTING A WILL IN FLORIDA
According to Florida statutes, a will is a legal document that designates the recipients, or beneficiaries, of an individual's assets. The individual who makes the will is known as the testator. All or part of a will may be declared invalid in the event that the will was created by way of undue influence, mistake, duress or fraud. If an individual were to suspect that a will is not valid for any of these reasons, Read More
IRS BELIEVES MICHAEL JACKSON’S ESTATE OWES MILLIONS IN TAXES
Florida fans of Michael Jackson may be interested to hear about a recent change in the valuation of his estate. The Internal Revenue Service now says that is owed an additional $29 million in estate taxes. According to the IRS, it believed that he only had a 50 percent interest in his master recordings. However, he actually owned 100 percent of the interest in the recordings when he died in 2009. All told, the estate Read More
ENSURING A CHILD’S FUTURE BY SETTING UP A SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST
Special needs trusts are trusts that can be set up by the parents of children in Florida who are mentally or physically disabled. These trusts can ensure financial security without putting the child's eligibility for government benefits in jeopardy. The trust supplements Social Security benefits and Medicaid, but parents should understand just how these trusts work and, even more importantly, how to fund them. When Read More
ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBATE IN FLORIDA
When an individual passes on in Florida, his or her estate may go through the probate process. Probate is essentially a court-supervised discovery process that takes into account the assets and liabilities of an estate. Although there are two forms of probate in Florida, most probate cases are of the formal administration variety. Costs related to probate are paid for using funds from the estate and are given top Read More
