As most young adults are about to return to college, most parents do not think about the fact that not that their child is 18 they are an adult in the eyes of the law. Deborah Jacobs has written an article on this in Forbes outlining two documents that are…
You can use a website or create your own will in Florida, but we find that some people do not create valid wills, or create wills that do things other than what they want. We only charge $200 for a will so an online will does not save very much…
Many people see joint accounts as a cheap and easy way to avoid probate, since joint property passes to the join owner at death, but these accounts can actually be quite risky when it comes to estate planning. Joint ownership of accounts can be a great way to easily pass…
If your family works in a high stress profession is a good idea to make sure you and your family keep their estate plans up to date. The unexpected deaths of finance workers in the past few months by suicide around the world have raised concerns about mental health and…
Planning an estate can be a difficult process, but also a rewarding one because it helps to ensure that a person’s heirs will be provided for after he or she dies. Many assume they should wait until after death to convey assets to their loved ones, but there are some…
A recent ruling by the Fifth Florida Appellate Court on Friday allows surviving spouses to claim loss of consortium separately from others claims after the spouse dies. The surviving spouse Margaret Randall filed the case, Randall v. Walt Disney World Co., in 2006 after her husband Barry Randall allegedly suffered…
A TAP trust is an extremely versatile trust designed to hold a variety of assets. This type of trust helps the grantor avoid needless estate taxes without the restrictions of other trusts. The TAP trust can hold a variety of assets that include: real estate, stocks, insurance policies, bonds, and…
The Florida Supreme Court recently decided the long and costly case of a deceased woman who tried to write her own Will using an online legal form. In Aldrich, v. Basile, Ann Aldrich used a pre-printed legal form to draft a Will. She did this most likely to avoid paying…
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the funds contained in an IRA are not “retirement funds” and thus not protected from creditors during bankruptcy. The next question many attorneys now have is how this ruling will affect tax law? The Supreme Court justices felt there were three legal characteristics…
Establishing a trust is often an important part of the management of your assets and estate. A trust can help to ensure decedent’s assets are passed to their heirs precisely the way they are intended. Trusts can either be irrevocable or revocable. The person who creates a revocable trust can…