The Florida Elective Share statutes has made it almost impossible to disinherit a spouse from your estate outside of a premarital, prenuptial, or post-nuptial agreement. In 1999, the Florida Legislature enacted what we now call the Florida Elective Share Statute, which was amended in 2016 and 2017 to provide even…
The Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled this month that personal representatives of estates are no longer allowed to deduct attorney’s fees from a spouse’s elective share when litigating claims against the spouse’s stake in the inheritance. This holding of this case means that a spouse’s inheritance may now be…
Modern estate planning has changed with the fabric of the modern American family. It is more common to now see scenarios such as estranged parents who stay married to raise children, or even married couples that live their lives completely separated from each other. A common question asked by many…
The 2nd District Court of Appeals for Florida held in McDonald v Johnson that the increase in a company stock value that happened during the marriage can be used to determine the value of an elective share calculation. The lower court ruled that the surviving spouse had no right to…
In Florida a spouse can elect to take 30% of the decedent’s elective estate. But what was not answered is what portion of the estate is that 30% applied to? The 5th District Court of Appeal of Florida has answered this question in the case of Paredes v. McLucas .…
Under ideal circumstances a husband and wife will agree to what the surviving spouse should receive when the other dies. However, many times when this doesn’t happen the surviving spouse receives a portion of the estate they are unsatisfied with. For example, an elderly couple who marries later in life…
In Florida, a surviving spouse is usually entitled to take an elective share of their spouse’s estate. This is to prevent one spouse from disinheriting the other. Unless there is a valid Prenuptial or Post Nuptial agreement in place, the surviving spouse is entitled to take 30% of the spouses…
In Florida as with most states, Estate Planning is something that needs to be addressed when one has major changes in their life. This includes divorce and separation. You only have to think about your spouse or ex-spouse getting all of your assets if you should die to realize the…
Magee v. Magee, 32 Fla. L. Weekly 02307 (Fla. 2d DCA September 26, 2007) In a challenge to the constitutionality of Florida’s elective share statutes, the Second District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that the statute is constitutional. The Court applied a test of whether there is…
How can you tell if a Will has been altered? Most of the time you cannot tell by simply looking at the document. Often these documents are “tampered with” behind the scenes: friends, relatives, heirs or neighbors pressure, threaten or trick someone into changing, modifying or preparing a new Last…