Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

April 10, 2017

How Does A Step Up In Basis Work?

How Does A Step Up In Basis Work?

Capital gains taxes are one of the more confusing taxes that American citizens have to pay. The best way to explain capital gains taxes is through examples. This article will include plenty of examples, but in an attempt to define these taxes, capital gains taxes are the tax accessed on an asset when it is sold and has increased in value.

Capital gains taxes are a percentage of what a person buys the asset for (the “basis”) and what the amount the property was sold at (the “step-up”). Most assets have a tax basis, and generally, this is the amount a person paid for the property originally. When you inherit an asset, the basis is usually set at the amount the property is worth on the day of the transfer.

It is important to know how much an asset is worth on either the day the asset was purchased or on the day the owner dies and the property is transferred. Once the property is sold, the tax will be accessed on the difference between the first value and the amount the property was sold for. Most people pay about 15 percent on the difference. Higher earners may have to pay as much as 23.8 percent capital gains tax.

April 6, 2017

Final Accounting: How To Object in Florida

by David M. Goldman

How To Object To The Final Accounting of a Personal Representative in Florida

The final accounting can be complex. As many Florida residents might know, the probate of an estate can be a very lengthy process that can be full of mistakes. Mistakes are often made when the estate’s personal representative makes the final accounting of the estate. What many people do not realize is that they have the right to object to the final accounting.

The Florida probate rules state that an interested person has 30 days to object to a Final Accounting and Petition for Discharge after the documents have been served. However, a simple broad objection will not work. Written objections must state what parts of the accounting the person is objecting to, and what specific grounds the objections are based upon.
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April 3, 2017

Jacksonville Homestead Lawyer: Does a House Automatically Transfer To Spouse

by David M. Goldman

A common question our Jacksonville Homestead Lawyers receive is “When A Spouse Dies, Does The House Automatically Transfer To You?”

One of the more common Florida probate questions our clients ask the Jacksonville homestead lawyers at The Law Office of David M. Goldman PLLC is whether a house automatically transfers to the living spouse when one spouse dies? The answer often depends on many factors; there is no simple yes or no answer.

Florida does offer some of the best homestead laws in the nation. Before explaining the great homestead benefits that Florida offers, let’s see how the law devises a property when one spouse passes away. Remember a home may or may not be a homestead. For this article, we will use the situation where the home is a homestead unless otherwise noted. The relevant homestead law comes from Article X, Section 4 of Florida’s Constitution.
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March 30, 2017

Estate Planning for Millennials

by David M. Goldman

Estate Planning for Millennials

Millennials are growing up and doing so fast, and as we all know, young adulthood is full of important milestones. Florida millennials are now graduating from college, landing their first “adult” jobs with benefits such as 401k matching, life insurance, and pension plans. This generation is now starting to make big decisions such as buying homes and starting families. Now is the time that millennials should start to begin estate planning.

Estate planning has the stigma of being something that only the elderly and the terminally ill consider. However, estate planning is much more effective when started at an early age. No one can predict the future, and every person benefits by having a will, trust, and a power of attorney.

The great thing about estate planning is that you can adapt and change the plan as needed. You don’t need to wait until you are married and have children to create the plan. Moreover, you still have many friends, loved ones, and relatives that you may wish to pass assets or control your financial and health care decisions if you become incapacitated. If you ever become married, divorced, or have children the estate plan can always be modified.

March 27, 2017

Creating a Plan for Minor Children

by David M. Goldman

Estate planning has many benefits, with one of the best being that it allows our clients to have peace of mind. This peace of mind comes from knowing that your family members can be taken care of if something happens to you. This type of estate planning is especially important if you have minor children.

Parents are often so busy that they don’t have time to think about planning for their death or incapacity. A parent’s time is often spent thinking about getting kids to school, helping with homework, and providing a good lifestyle for their children. Unfortunately, tragedy can strike without warning, from an unexpected illness, on a highway, or as a result another catastrophe.

March 24, 2017

Protecting Assets From Nursing Home Expenses

by David M. Goldman

The following article by the Senior Directory is aimed at helping you learn options regarding the various payment options for Long-Term Care in a Nursing Home. It is not a Do-It-Yourself guide. Before doing anything drastic with your assets, consult a Florida Elder Law Attorney who can work out the particulars for your individual situation and make sure everything is filed correctly.

How much does Long Term Care at a Nursing Home cost?

National averages price long-term care facilities at about $250 a day. That comes out to $90,000 a year, which is just for basic care. Start adding in amenities, like Memory Care for Alzheimer’s patients, and that number quickly starts to rise. In North Florida the average cost can quickly increase from around $9,700 a month to $20,000 or even $30,000 a month.

March 16, 2017

Jacksonville Probate Attorney: Missing Beneficiaries

by David M. Goldman

Jacksonville Probate: How to Handle Missing Beneficiaries

Jacksonville probate attorneys often deal with a beneficiary that is alive, but no one knows this person’s address. If a beneficiary goes missing or cannot be found, then there are a few options including using professional heir search companies.

The first place to start is the Florida Rules of Probate, which requires formal notice to be sent to a number of different parties affected by the probate of the estate. The rule can be found under Florida Rule of Probate 5.040. The rule states the formal notice can be sent to the following parties:

March 14, 2017

Jacksonville Estate Planning For Single Parents

by David M. Goldman

Jacksonville Estate Planning For Single Parents

One of the best aspects of Jacksonville estate planning is that every plan can be tailored to a person’s life and specific needs. In Jacksonville, Estate planning is important for every person, but it is even more important when you are a single parent because estate planning can directly benefit minor children.

There are several issues that single parents need to consider with their Jacksonville estate planning attorneys. These are some of the common issues that single parents should consider.

March 3, 2017

Asset Protection Trusts Can Be Effective Prenuptial Agreements

by David M. Goldman

Florida Asset Protection Trusts and Domestic Asset Protection Trusts Can Be Effective Prenuptial Agreements

Planning for a divorce is never easy or fun, but divorce is an unfortunate reality in today’s world where almost half of all marriages end in divorce. Without legal planning, a spouse seeking a divorce is likely entitled to an equitable portion of the marital property. The traditional way to protect property from a divorce was through a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement; now there may be a better alternative by using a Florida asset protection trust.

So what happens if there is no legal planning? If the married couple fails to plan for the dissolution of marriage adequately, then the division of marital property will be left to the discretion of a judge during the process of an expensive and time-consuming divorce process.
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February 20, 2017

Actual Fraud is it Fraud to Receive Fraudulent Transfers?

by David M. Goldman

One issue that has come before the Supreme Court is what is actual fraud, and does actual fraud included fraudulent transfers. Stated in another way, is it fraud to accept a fraudulent transfer. For a long time the answer depended on the judicial circuit. Now the Supreme Court has provided a firm answer.

So before we can determine the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision it is important to understand what actual fraud is in the context of bankruptcy law. The bankruptcy code bars the discharge of “any debt… for money, property, [or] services… to the extent obtained by… false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud.”

So how does the reception of fraudulent transfers fit within this definition of actual fraud?

The first step in answering this question is to determine how fraud is defined. The modern law concerning fraudulent transfers comes from the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act (UFTA), which was adopted in most states including Florida. The UFTA defines fraudulent transfers against present and future creditors as “a transfer made under obligation incurred by a debtor if made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud any creditor of the debtor.”