Elder Law

January 4, 2016

Asset Protection: Can an Irrevocable Trust be Revoked?

Florida Asset Protection Trusts: Can they be changed?

In Florida, both revocable and irrevocable trusts are valuable estate planning tools that permit individuals to organize and protect their assets from creditors. The Florida Asset Protection trust is not used by many estate planning lawyers. Asset Protection is an important part of estate planning in Florida. While the name irrevocable would seem to indicate that the trust cannot be revoked, there are many ways of accomplishing the same effect as revoking a trust.

Generally when one discusses revoking a trust, they are referring to doing one of the following:

December 2, 2015

Elder Law Update 4th Quarter 2015

by David M. Goldman

News and Important information for Seniors and their Families.

In this issue, we discuss the following topics.

How to Bulletproof your estate plan

September 14, 2015

How Long Does it Take a Guardian to be Appointed By the Court in Florida?

by David M. Goldman

Guardianship of an Adult

Obtaining the guardianship of an adult is not a long drawn out process as one might think. If everything goes smoothly and it is not contested by anyone, a guardian is generally appointed in roughly 30 days. Once you have obtained an attorney and a Petition to Determine Incapacity and Petition for Appointment of Guardian have been filed with the court, three things are done by the court:

Three (3) doctors are appointed to examine the potential ward and they must file their reports within 30 days of receiving their appointments.
An attorney is appointed to represent the ward; and
A hearing is set on the Petition to Determine Incapacity for roughly 30 days out, depending on the court’s calendar. At the end of this hearing, if the ward is deemed incapacitated, a guardian is appointed.

September 4, 2015

Florida Elder Law: tips for taking a vacation

by David M. Goldman

Long-term care is extraordinarily expensive, and the reality is that the majority of America’s senior care providers are in-home family members who provide those services out of the goodness of their hearts. These are usually family members that also have their own lives to live with careers and families of their own, so the additional daily schedule can be a big challenge

However, a life without fun is not worth living, and we recommend that every person spend time to get away and rejuvenate from the daily grind of everyday life. So our message to anyone currently caring for a senior is to take time for vacations. “But how?” you might ask; here are a few tips on how to take a vacation with an elder.